The First Time
by Stephanie2233
Summary: Other than smiling, how did Tony come to join NCIS?  Gibbs and his team go to Baltimore to investigate the death of a Petty Officer.  They find out his death is connected to an ongoing undercover op conducted by Baltimore's very own, Detective DiNozzo.
1. Chapter 1

It was 0700 and Team Gibbs was sitting in the bullpen, catching up on paperwork. Agent Vivian Blackadder, had finished hers the night before, and was now relaxing at her desk, glancing through cold case files. She liked to think herself a hardworking agent, but with the time Agent Campbell was taking to finish his report, she was finding much more time for relaxation. She was surprised Campbell had lasted this long; her boss wasn't one to stand for incompetence, and he had never been described as a patient man.

Across from her, Special Agent Patrick Campbell was working on the 5th draft of his report from the last case. The last 4 had been merely glanced at by Gibbs before being thrown back in his face.

_You call this a report, Campbell?_ Patrick remembered his boss's words. He didn't understand. No matter what he did, Gibbs didn't appreciate him. Sure he had made yet another rookie mistake and almost caused a straightforward case to turn into a firefight when he'd broken cover to get the perp. But isn't that what being a Special Agent was? Going after the bad guys no matter the cost? It had been a dumb move, and almost cost NCIS the case, and Gibbs had saved his ass, but it had worked out. He knew he was lucky though—Blackadder had warned him that he was "this close" to getting kicked off Team Gibbs. But he honestly didn't think that reports were all that important anyways; why put 100% effort into a report when you had just put all your effort into catching the bad guys. Being a federal agent was about action, not paperwork. He thought he'd be getting that working for Team Gibbs. Speaking of Gibbs—it was 0700 and his boss wasn't at his desk yet. _How come he gets to come late?_ He thought accusingly.

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"He's a good agent, Gibbs. Just a little young. He was a very promising student in FLETC. You need to give him another chance."

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Director Morrow were seated in the back of MTAC. Gibbs has put up with Campbell for 2 months now and after a number of close calls, was ready to go back to a 2 person team.

"Director, being a 'promising student' in FLETC is different from being a trustworthy agent on my team! Campbell's mistakes almost got Blackadder killed yesterday!" Gibbs said furiously.

"I understand your concerns, Gibbs. But a 2 man team is just not feasible at this time, especially not for a Major Case Response Team. Also, I'm sure Campbell will catch on. As I stated before, Special Agent Campbell received outstanding test scores in FLETC." Morrow again tried to appease the lead agent.

"That's great that he can bubble in a scantron and hit targets in a relaxed environment, but in the field, I need to have someone who can anticipate! Someone who can make the split second decision that saves a life. And someone who has my six! Tell me director, has Campbell at all showed that he is capable of this!"

Director Morrow just sighed. Gibbs was a great agent that demanded the best of his team. But he had faith in Campbell, even if Campbell had been spending the last 2 months doing his best to shake his faith in him.

"One more chance, Gibbs. A case was just called in from Baltimore. Dead petty officer, shot execution style. Take your team, find justice for the petty officer, and if Campbell gives you any more trouble, I'll have him transferred."

Gibbs gave Morrow a long glare before finally heading out the door. Without turning, Gibbs said "If Campbell does anything to mess up this case, you won't get a chance to transfer him; I'll shoot him myself." And with that, he exited MTAC, heading towards the bullpen.

"Grab your gear!" he snapped at his team…striding quickly towards the elevator and giving Ducky a quick call to inform him of the case.

"Gas the truck!" he said, throwing the keys toward Blackadder's desk. His team jumped and quickly followed him.

Once in the elevator, Gibbs turned to Campbell "Turn in whatever you got for your report when we get back."

"Yes sir!" Campbell smiled. He hadn't even had to try on that report; in each new draft he'd only changed a few words anyways. Afterall, he figured, nothing was really wrong with his report, this was just Gibbs' version of hazing.

Gibbs smiled to himself. By letting Campbell turn in those crappy reports, the Director would see how little he actually contributed. _Let Morrow see what I've been dealing with._ He thought. It wasn't that he wished to be intentionally malicious towards Campbell, but he couldn't lose lives because of sloppy work. And that was what Campbell was, sloppy. Not that Blackadder was much better, but she, unlike Campbell, tried to learn from her mistakes. And although she wasn't the best agent he'd worked with, she had his six, which was more than he could say for Campbell. But he still really needed a great agent. He never thought he'd miss Burley this much, and every time he looked at his team he was sorely reminded how much he needed a Senior Field Agent to watch his six.

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By the time Gibbs pulled the NCIS sedan to a halt in front of the warehouse, Blackadder and Campbell had turned an interesting shade of green.

"Blackadder, shoot and sketch! Campbell, bag and tag! And when Ducky gets here, tell him to use any means necessary…we are taking this body, and the case!"

Gibbs didn't wait for them as he quickly made his way under the crime scene tape, looking for whoever was in charge. He knew he was in for a jurisdiction battle, but there was a reason his second 'B' stood for Bastard, and there was no way he wasn't taking lead on this case.

He was soon approached by a middle-aged man, wearing a suit with a detective badge hanging around his neck.

"Ah, Special Agent…?" the Detective questioned, giving him a friendly smile that didn't quite meet his eyes.

"Gibbs," he finished for him, before fixing him with his famous glare. The middle aged man backed down a little, but not much, refusing to be intimidated by the ex-marine's persona.

"Detective Aaron Cook, Baltimore Homicide. Body was found at 0630 this morning by a homeless fellow. We arrived on scene and noticed his dogtags. We realized he was one of yours and the rest is history." He said this last statement with a hint of antagonism. He obviously wasn't happy about the Feds encroaching on his crime scene.

"Did you touch the body?" Gibbs asked, ignoring the tone of the last statement.

"This isn't my first crime scene, Agent Gibbs." Detective Cook countered back, offended at what the Fed was insinuating

"Just making sure our bases are covered. If you could just point me in the direction of the witness, we can take over now." Gibbs replied smoothly.

The Detective's face changed quickly from a fake smile, to a hard glare, but Gibbs detected something else in his eyes. _Was that…worry?_

"With all due respect Agent Gibbs, I'd like to be a part of this investigation as well…" he was cut off by the ringing of his phone. "Excuse me for one second, I have to take this," he said, moving to the outskirts of the scene. Gibbs frowned. That wasn't what he'd been expecting the Detective to say. He didn't demand lead, in fact, he probably knew that Gibbs would almost be guaranteed the lead. Instead, he had wanted to "help" with the investigation. Not a normal reaction for a Detective getting kicked off a case he obviously wanted to work. Gibbs shrugged; it didn't matter, he had the case.

"Campbell!" He barked, smiling as he saw the agent jump up like a scared rabbit. "Go find the witness, take his statement."

"But boss, Baltimore PD already took his statement and even if they hadn't, I don't know where he is."

Gibbs, shook his head; Campbell would never make it on his team. "Then FIND him, Campbell! Show a little initiative and ask the officers where he is. And NCIS doesn't rely on other department's witness statements; never assume they already got all the information!"

Gibbs strode back over to where Detective Cook had just hung up his phone, both men wearing equally stormy expressions. "Problems?" Agent Gibbs asked the Detective

"Your case!" He snapped, still looking angrily at his cell.

"I appreciate it, Detective. Oh, and we found the witness, so we won't be needing any further assistance." He said, turning away and heading toward Ducky, who was already telling their dead marine an 'interesting' story.

"Agent Gibbs," Gibbs turned around, once again facing the Detective, who had a different look on his face. Worry, again. Gibbs eyed him questioningly.

"Look, I know it's your lead, but I've got a stake in this too." He paused, as if unsure how to continue. "I know you have to do your thing, and conduct the investigation in your own way, but if you could at least keep me informed of your progress, I'd appreciate it. We may not see eye to eye, but I want this case solved too, and I'm willing to…help, in any way possible…" he paused again, looking at Gibbs.

Gibbs could tell this wasn't natural for him. Even in his brief encounter with him today, he had developed a grudging respect for him.

"A personal stake?" Gibbs asked, hoping to draw a little more out of him.

"I'm not at liberty to say, Agent Gibbs. I received a direct order. But know this…this murder, it's a lot bigger than it seems. I want to help you."

"Are you holding back information, Detective?" Gibbs fumed. "Because I'm not a patient man and I will not stand for that."

"No. At least it is not my intention, Agent Gibbs. However, I have a hunch…call it a gut feeling, that there's more to this than meets the eye."

"You want to help us, Detective? Then get me the security tapes from this warehouse…all of them." Gibbs said, unsure of why he was taking this guy up on his offer, but his gut was churning as well.

"Will do. I'll have them for you in a few hours." Detective Cook asked.

"I'll come by the station." Gibbs replied.

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea. I'm not supposed to be involved with this. Let's just say…my Captain doesn't share my feeling about this case." The Detective said, a little unsure of himself.

"Then email them me at the Navy Yard. My team and I will take a look at them tomorrow."

"Consider it done, Agent Gibbs." Detective Cook said, making his way back to his car.

Gibbs frowned. He didn't mind an ally in the local PD, but he didn't like the way Detective Cook was acting. Something was definitely…hinky, as Abby would say. He would get to the bottom of this.

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"What've we got, Duck?" Gibbs asked, crouching down by the prone body.

"Well Jethro, it seems this poor lad was shot in the back of the head, execution style. Died almost instantly. His wound reminds me of a time in Uganda, I was examining the body of a young villager who seemed to have gotten on the bad side of the wrong person…"

"Duck." Gibbs said, exasperated. Doctor Mallard was a brilliant ME and a good friend, but his stories were enough to drive Gibbs insane.

"Sorry, Jethro. As I was saying, a gunshot wound to the back of the head was most certainly the cause of death. And the temperature in the liver estimates the time of death at about 0100 this morning."

"Do we have a name?" Gibbs asked, glancing at the dog tags.

"Ah yes, Petty Officer Christopher Morrow"

"Thanks Duck. Let's pack him up and get back to the Navy Yard. Blackadder and Campbell, I want you to find out everything you can about this Petty Officer Morrow when we get back."

"Got it, boss." They both said in unison. They gathered the gear and made their way back to the car, mentally preparing themselves for the stomach-emptying drive to the Navy Yard.

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Back at his desk, Detective Cook worked on acquiring the security tapes from the warehouse. He knew it was risky. The captain had told him to stay out if it, but he wasn't going to stand back while the department screwed his partner over. Plus, it was a completely legitimate task to carry out in a murder investigation. Security tapes could provide identifications and help close investigations, and could also be useful for timelines. Gibbs wanted the tapes for that night, but Aaron decided to give him a little something extra. Sure, he was under direct orders not to say something, but he could show them. He knew his hunch was more than just that. It was well-founded—there was no way that this murder, occurring in the warehouse, had nothing to do with his partner's undercover mission. If he went along with his chief's belief that they were in no way connected, he was letting the Feds walk unknowingly into 2 months of hard undercover work, which would most likely jeopardize the mission, and his partner's life. He quickly sent the newly acquired tapes, not only the ones from last night, but he included the ones from the last 2 weeks as well. His partner had put everything into this mission, and he was going to make sure he came out alive.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I want to thank everyone for the amazing reaction to my first chapter. The reviews, alerts, and favorites all made my day and really helped me write faster. I'm sorry if I didn't reply to everyone; I kind of forgot who all I had replied to. This is my first attempt at writing fanfiction and I wasn't sure what to expect, but you guys are awesome! Just a few quick notes: First off, if Gibbs or any other characters seem out of character, I'm sorry. I really am trying to capture their personalities, but sometimes I have trouble. Also, this is a work in progress, and as of right now I will be updating once a week until it's complete. At that time, I'll probably speed up my updates. And finally, I am in need of a Beta so if anyone would like to beta this story, send me a PM! =) Thanks so much for reading and please review if you feel so inclined...they really help me out and I appreciate it!****Finally, I don't own NCIS or any of its characters.**

Detective Aaron Cook got to work early the next morning. He wanted to be ready to take any more calls from Agent Gibbs regarding the dead Petty Officer. He also knew he was bound to receive a call in the next few days regarding the extra tapes he had sent in. Gibbs was too good an investigator to look only at the obvious choice. So now he was in for the hard part: waiting. He also knew he could be assigned to a case at any moment. With his partner gone, his case load had been considerably lighter, but after NCIS had taken control of the scene yesterday, he was sure his chief would give him a case soon, as his own sort of olive branch. As if on cue, Officer Anderson, approached his desk.

"Detective, the Chief has requested to see you." he said quickly, giving Cook a quick nod before leaving.

Cook took a quick last glance at his phone before getting up. He wasn't exactly thrilled to get a new case; he would much rather focus on his partner. However, he knew that staying on the chief's good side was crucial to not only the undercover mission, but to his own career. If he was going to go behind the chief's back and help the Feds, it would be good to keep up the facade of a grateful detective when he was offered a new case.

"Detective, please have a seat," Chief Joel Tillman said, a little too formally.

Cook took a seat, gazing intently at Tillman. He didn't say anything, instead choosing to wait for the Chief to initiate their discussion. Although he was calm on the outside, he still hadn't forgiven the Chief for his decision yesterday.

"Detective, I understand you were frustrated with the way things turned out yesterday, but I want you to realize, there is little I could have done." Cook sat quietly, as Tillman took a deep sign and continued.

"You see, NCIS does have every right to jurisdiction when the case involves a dead Petty Officer, even if the murder occurs on Baltimore turf. In addition, I know that you and your partner are involved in an undercover operation, and another case will do nothing to speed up the completion of the mission."

Cook looked at him like he was an alien. Was he seriously using the operation as a reason _not_ to get involved? Had his chief listened to _anything_ he'd said on the phone yesterday?

"Chief, with respect, I'm not seeing your logic. As I said yesterday, the Petty Officer was killed in the same warehouse that half the operation has centered around. DiNozzo said it himself in the last report...if anything's gonna go down, it'll happen there. And then less than a week later a man just _happens_ to get murdered there? This is more than a coincidence! We should have fought for jurisdiction. We have reason-an ongoing undercover op! That's enough to get at least get shared jurisdiction!" he stopped for a moment, realizing that getting worked up was not the way to handle the situation.

Chief Tillman did not look happy, and his glare rivaled that of Special Agent Gibbs, "Speaking of ongoing undercover investigations, Detective, DiNozzo's been in there for 2 months and this is the first murder that's happened at the warehouse. You cannot possibly argue that one random murder is connected to the operation based on a location only. I've been through all of the information DiNozzo has gathered, and none of it even mentions a Petty Officer Morrow. He's been in there 2 months and you're looking desperately for new leads-I get it, but I gave the case to the Feds without a fight because we need to concentrate on this investigation right now. He's already been in there too long."

"Damn right he's been in there too long! And he would have been out 2 weeks ago if one of your shiny, new detectives hadn't entered too soon and blown the raid! The murder isn't random; it's too big of a coincidence to be random! We're "this" close to bringing down the whole gang. If we had taken this case, we could have brought them all down and brought DiNozzo home! Instead, you hand it to the Feds and forbid me from letting them in on the operation!" Cook fumed, amazed at the stupidity of his superior.

"The operation is need to know! And the Feds don't need to know! I'm not taking the chance of another agency coming in right before the case blows open and taking credit. Plus, if everything goes right, DiNozzo should have enough for us to take them down in a week."

"So you won't take the risk of losing credit, but you would risk one of your Detective's lives! If everything goes right? That's a big 'if'! Remember the last time we thought we were home free? We screwed up and DiNozzo barely escaped with his cover intact. I'm sorry if my first priority is my partner, but someone has to watch his back!"

And with that, Cook left, staying at the station only long enough to submit a vacation request for the next two days. He loved his job, just not the politics. And although his Chief could be dense, he was ultimately a caring man and he knew he would understand his need for a vacation. But vacation was the last thing on Cook's mind as he got in his car; he had work to do, and he had to get to NCIS.

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The day started like any other day at NCIS. Gibbs barged through the elevator doors at 0700, carrying 2 cups of his precious coffee in one hand, and a Caff-Pow in the other. Wasting no time, he sat at his desk and looked up.

"Blackadder, Campbell, what do we got?"

Blackadder stood up in front of the plasma. "Petty Officer Christopher Morrow, served 2 years aboard the USS Ronald Reagan. Record shows him clean as a whistle during his deployment. He's currently on a 6 month leave. He has one brother, who dropped out of college a year ago."

Campbell quickly stepped forward. "Hasn't seemed too busy since coming back to the states, however recently he seemed to run into some money troubles, because he sold his car two weeks ago."

"How do you know it was money troubles?" Blackadder asked.

"Well why else would you sell your car?" Campbell wilted under Gibbs' glare. "Uh...I'll find out boss!"

"What did he do with the money?" Both agents looked up at Gibbs. "The money that he got for the car-find it!"

Both agents started furiously typing away at their computers, but Gibbs wasn't done.

"Those security tapes from Baltimore PD come in yet, Campbell?"

"Um, yeah boss...Abby's cleaning 'em up now. But uh..." Campbell continued, looking down at his watch and mentally calculating something, "Um, uh, she should be done now, I mean, I think, you never know..." Campbell stuttered.

Gibbs just shook his head. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's see Abby."

Campbell and Blackadder jumped up, but Gibbs had other ideas. "Not you, Campbell. Keep checking Morrow's financials. I want to know where that money is when I get back!"

Campbell glared angrily after them as Blackadder and Gibbs disappeared behind the elevator doors._ Why was it always him?_ He mused bitterly.

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Loud music greeted the agents as they entered Abby's lab. Abby was hard at work, alternating between typing furiously on her keyboard and then bobbing her head to the beat as she waited for her 'babies' to work their magic.

"Abs...Abs...ABS!" Gibbs barked, trying to be heard over the blaring music. Abby jumped, pigtails flailing about her head. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of Gibbs.

"Hey, Mister! Don't be using your sneaky marine superpowers on me. I've got enough work to do trying to figure out your whole 'psychic-knowing-when-I-got-something' powers. I'm pretty sure it runs through your blood...like some special plasma or something. Have you reconsidered the whole blood test thing? I'll be really gentle, not that you need gentle because you're a marine and you're tough as nails...well probably tougher than nails..."

"ABBY!" Gibbs barked, stopping her tangent. He adored the goth, but he didn't have time for her ramblings today. "The tapes, Abs...they ready?"

"Well of course they are Gibbs! I figured with your whole psychic thing you already knew that. Aha! You did! You were testing me..."

"Abs," Gibbs said again, trying to keep her on track, "Where are they?"

"Well I emailed them to you. Oh, but you never check that. You really should check your email Gibbs. But if you want, I can get you all set up in my lab. It's way more comfy down here anyways. Ooh, I'll get the futon set up and we can make popcorn!" Abby said as she started flying around her lab, setting up a movie theater for her team. Blackadder watched, amused. No one else could get away with this with Gibbs, but the kind-hearted forensic scientist had wormed her way into Gibbs' heart. The whole team loved her, although Abby hadn't quite reciprocated the love with Campbell. The young man was 'hinky' to her.

They sat down in front of a few computer screens Abby had positioned in front of the futon. "These were some good security tapes for an abandoned warehouse, Gibbs. I mean, most abandoned warehouses don't have functioning security cameras, but these were able to be cleaned up nicely. Still not sure if I can get an ID though." she said as she squeezed Bert.

"I noticed the camera as I was surveying the scene. It was well hidden, but I figured it wasn't functional. It looked ancient." Blackadder said.

"Never assume, Blackadder. I asked the Detective in charge to supply me with the tapes and he agreed without hesitation. If the local PD knew it was there, and judging by the strategic angle it was placed at, it was there for a reason."

And with that, they started the tapes. They all watched the one from the time of the murder. Abby had zoomed in as much as she could on the figures on the screen, without distorting the image too much.

_Three men appeared on-screen. A burly man at least 6'3" was forcing a smaller man forward. The "smaller" man was their victim, Petty Officer Morrow. He looked scared and a little jumpy, but the gun pressed against the small of his back, combined with his hands handcuffed tightly behind his back, stifled any thoughts of escape attempts. Not to mention, the burly goon had a pretty good grip on him. Following closely behind was another man, who despite being the smallest of the 3, was undoubtedly in charge. The men were exchanging words, and every so often, "burly" would jam the gun further into Morrow's back. And then...BAM! It was over. The goon had swiftly moved the gun to the back of Morrow's head, forcing him to his knees, before taking the kill shot, a single bullet through the back of his skull._

Abby gasped at the sudden end, turning to Gibbs with a sad look in her eyes.

"Can you get an ID from this tape, Abs?" he asked, softly kissing her cheek.

"I could try, Bossman. I might be able to confirm a suspect with it, but the quality isn't good enough to run a search based off a freeze frame. The pixels go all out of whack if I go any closer and it's impossible to distinguish facial features from this far away."

Gibbs swore. Cases could never be straightforward. They had already used up all their luck when there were working security cameras present. It would be too easy if they could get an ID too.

"All right, Blackadder: start going through the tapes and watch for any suspicious activity. I'll be down in autopsy with Ducky. Meet back here in 2 hours with any relevant footage. There's something more going on here, and we're gonna figure it out."

"But Boss, that's 2 weeks of security tapes! I can't do that in 2 hours!"

"Well find a way, Blackadder!" Gibbs barked, leaving her with one of his famous glares as he left for autopsy.

"I think I'm starting to get why Campbell hates Gibbs so much," Blackadder mumbled.

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The doors of autopsy slid open and Gibbs stepped through. Ducky looked up from Petty Officer Morrow and greeted the silver-haired agent.

"Ahh, Jethro, right on time as always. I was just finishing up with young Christopher, the poor lad. I'm afraid he was rather close-lipped though, and I'm not able to tell you much else. There was some small bruising on the wrists, indicating that he was tied up at some point. However, it seems the restraints were removed soon after death."

"That all, Duck?" Gibbs asked, a little disappointed in the lack of information.

"I'm sorry, Jethro, but other than a bullet-hole through the skull, the poor boy is in very good health. Reminds me of a case back in '74, or was it '73…" Ducky looked up and was surprised to find Gibbs had already left. He shrugged and turned back to Petty Officer Morrow on the autopsy table. "You'd like to hear this now, wouldn't you?"

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2 hours later, Team Gibbs reconvened in Abby's lab. Gibbs was quick to notice the huge smile on Campbell's face, as he just about strutted in, holding aloft a file which presumably contained notes regarding his findings. Blackadder was at his heels.

"Boss!" she said, cutting off Campbell before he could open his mouth. "This is huge. You were right—more has occurred at this warehouse than just one murder. I think we're into something much bigger than we thought."

Gibbs gave her a glare. Obviously something else was going on, but he wouldn't get anywhere with her ambiguous statements. He'd rather she just got to the point. Blackadder was about to continue when Campbell interrupted.

"Boss, we can get back to this. I've gone through Morrow's financials for the last 2 weeks and I have no idea where the money went. It just disappeared without a trace...or at least it wasn't spent through any official channels."

"So you've got nothing?" Gibbs replied.

"Well, I mean, I uh, I got something, Boss," Campbell stammered. "We know that there's something else going on. I mean, the money could be motive..."

"Unless you got someone to connect the money to, Campbell, then we got nothing! Blackadder, what did you find on the tapes?"

"This warehouse is obviously involved in something boss," Blackadder said as she pulled up the first video on Abby's computer screen. "I don't know what's going on, but it looks like Christopher Morrow wasn't the first intended victim...except this guy was lucky enough to have someone take mercy on him."

And with that, she played the footage.

_The first scene originally showed 2 men. One larger man towers over a smaller figure, whose hands are tied behind his back. The attacker grabs the victim's collar and leans in, whispering unknown threats in the man's ear. Then he rears back, delivering several sickening punches to the victim's jaw. The victim collapses to the floor in a heap, trying to protect his ribcage from the onslaught of kicks the attacker now aims in his direction. But suddenly the beating ceases and a lean, muscular man enters the picture. From his confident posture, they assume he is in charge, and yet he is obviously not the same "boss" from the tape of the murder. The attacker and the newcomer exchanged a few words and then the newcomer produces a gun from his waistband. At that moment, the goon moves away and the newcomer turns back to the victim, still lying on the ground. He looks around, making sure the coast is clear and then heaves the small man up, cocking the gun at his temple before leading him to the other side of the screen. After a minute of whispering in the man's ear, the newcomer lets him go. The victim scrambles up and runs off. The newcomer replaces his weapon and looks around quickly before also leaving the scene._

"That took place at 1400 the day before the murder. But that's not the weirdest one," Blackadder said as she quickly pulled up the next link. "I don't really know what this next scene means, but I think the Baltimore PD may be holding out on us, Boss."

"Just play it." Gibbs said, and with that, the screen again came to life.

_2 large crates are placed in the center of the warehouse and a 4 figures stand around them. 2 of them, the bulkiest of the group, stand off to the side, seemingly having a conversation. Another more scrawny man stands to the other side, looking around the room suspiciously. The last figure looks like the boss and oversees the other 3 men. His distinct stance and body type identify him as the same man who spared the victim in the previous video. All of a sudden there is movement at the bottom of the screen. A figure briefly enters the lens and both the scrawny man and the boss from the previous video notice. The figure quickly scoots back for cover, but not before Gibbs registers the words on the back of his jacket: "POLICE". Then all hell breaks loose. __The boss barks something and points, and the three other men jump to action at his words. The 2 goons are sent in the opposite direction as the scrawny man and the boss run towards the unfortunate cop. They stop near the bottom of the screen, quickly glancing around for their target. As the scrawny man turns his back, the boss draws his weapon and knocks the scrawny man unconscious. There is a little movement to the left of the screen and the cop reappears. To Team Gibbs' surprise, the boss turns to glare at the cop and says a few quick words before the cop darts off. The boss returns to his unmoving companion and is checking him over when the two goons return, empty-handed but clearly fuming. Together, they get the scrawny man on his feet and hurry out of the picture._

"What the hell?" Campbell finally muttered when the tape finished.

"I know, right? I just don't get it! I mean, obviously the police know a lot more than they're telling us. But we're dealing with a lot more than just the murder of that Petty Officer..." she trailed off to look at her boss, hoping he would help her out.

Gibbs was looking at the screen, which he had paused on the "boss" of the operation. "We need an ID on him! Abs, you sure you can't get an ID from either of these videos?"

"I might be able to Gibbs, if you give me some time. He comes a lot closer to the camera in these videos so I might be able to zoom in without pixelating the image too much..."

"How long Abs? I need an ID on this guy!"

"I think I might be able to help with that," a new voice said. The whole team spun around; Detective Aaron Cook stood in the doorway, looking steadily at Gibbs and then glancing at the man on the screen.

"That would be my partner, Detective DiNozzo."

**Hope you enjoyed it! I'm taking a little creative license with the evidence and the case. I have no experience with solving crimes and all I know I've either researched or learned from NCIS, so I apologize if anything seems improbable, though I'm trying my best to keep it realistic. Thanks so much for reading and please review!**

**Peas, **

**Stephanie**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: First of all, I want to apologize for having to upload this like 3 times...my computer kept freaking out on me and I wasn't even sure if I'd be able to post today...sorry! Once again, thank you all for the amazing reviews, alerts, and favorites; I truly appreciate it! A much shorter piece of this chapter was going to be posted a few days ago, but I realized that Tony had yet to make a real appearance, so I decided to wait and give you all one huge chapter. This one is as long as the other 2 chapters combined. This chapter will explain a lot of the case...I never thought I would write a case fic, but it seems that's what I'm doing. But don't worry, Tony will shine throughout =)**

**I don't own NCIS or its characters.**

**Chapter 3**

"You boys in Baltimore in the habit of interfering with federal investigations?" Gibbs seethed, glaring ominously at Detective Aaron Cook.

After Cook's startling entrance, Gibbs had ordered them all up to the conference room. Gibbs was visibly irate at the Detective he had almost respected just a day earlier. Blackadder sat to Gibbs' right, looking thoroughly uneasy at her boss's current mood. On a good day, Gibbs was bad enough, and some irresponsible detective antagonizing him even further did not make her job any easier. Campbell, on the other hand, was trying hard to keep his facial expression neutral. He couldn't be more pleased with someone else there to draw his boss's ire.

"Agent Gibbs, as I stated yesterday, the situation is complicated," Cook started, hoping to placate the Lead Agent as soon as possible before he woke up in a secluded area with a bullet in his gut.

"Complicated? No. You made this case complicated by withholding vital information from a federal agency!" Gibbs interrupted.

"Special Agent Gibbs! Will you just let me explain!" Cook exploded, sick of this treatment he didn't deserve.

Gibbs glowered at him, but did not say a word. His expression dared the Detective to continue.

"We have reason to believe the murder of Petty Officer Christopher Morrow may have something to do with an ongoing undercover operation the Baltimore PD has been conducting. The operation is need-to-know and I received orders from my chief not to disclose any information pertinent to the undercover case to NCIS." He paused to survey the looks on the agents' faces.

"That's what the phone call was about," he continued, seeing quickly he would receive no help from Gibbs.

"I tried to convince the chief to tell you. He believed the best move would be to let you guys have the case  
without a fight and then concentrate fully on concluding the undercover op."

"But you didn't hand over the case completely. You provided us with the security tapes, but Gibbs mentioned that you wanted to help," Blackadder interjected, a little confused.

"Yes, well sometimes the chief and I don't see eye to eye. You see, DiNozzo's my partner. Letting a different agency unknowingly launch an investigation that may interfere with an ongoing undercover op poses a great danger to him. I had to step in and make sure I was a part of the investigation; I was afraid his cover would be blown or worse…" Cook trailed off.

"And your chief didn't agree with you?" Gibbs asked incredulously. Cook was right; there were so many variables in an undercover op, and if an outside agency didn't tread carefully they could blow the mission to hell.

"No. He's too worried about getting full credit for bringing down a drug ring to realize how much danger DiNozzo is really in."

Gibbs shook his head. He truly hated the politics of the job. But he had to figure out what was going on. "Ok Detective, so you gonna fill us in or not?"

"Well, as you can see, I've already sent you the tapes from the warehouse. I figured I'd send you the ones from the past two weeks so you could see what has been happening.

"The warehouse on the tape is central to the drug ring we've been trying to take down for years. It's run by Vincente Padilla—well unofficially, that is. Over 3 years and we haven't been able to get anything concrete on him. Padilla's got a son, Jose, who's a bit more reckless than his father, so we've been trying to pin something on him as well, but even when it seems charges will finally stick, some slimy lawyer comes in and gets him out of it."

"Wait, this DiNoldo guy has been undercover for 3 years and hasn't gotten anything?" Campbell interrupted. He was sure he could do better than that.

"DiNozzo," Cook corrected, clearly annoyed with the young agent. "And no, we've just been investigating for 3 years. The FBI's tried to get this guy too, but Padilla's good. And DiNozzo isn't the first we've sent undercover, either. A year ago we sent one of our best detectives in, but we pulled him out months later because Padilla had let him nowhere near his inner circle. The FBI has had their share of failed undercover ops with this drug ring as well—Padilla had one of their agents killed when their cover was blown. We're dealing with a serious and violent drug lord here."

"So how long has your partner been undercover?" Blackadder asked.

"Only 2 months, but in that time he's done more than the FBI has in 3 years," Cook said, with a little pride behind his voice.

"From here, it looks like he's running things," Gibbs finally spoke, looking intently at Cook.

"Technically he is. I don't know how he's done it, but he's been made Padilla's second in command. From what I can tell, Jose wasn't too happy about being demoted to #3. DiNozzo's made an art of pissing dangerous people off." He said, smiling fondly as he thought of his young partner. He could talk his way into and out of almost anything, making him absolutely brilliant at undercover work. Not to mention his strange obsession with movies; every undercover assignment was like a new movie role for him. But unfortunately, when you're that good, you make a lot of enemies.

"Sound like anyone?" Blackadder muttered, more to herself than the people in the room.

Gibbs ignored her comment, "Is your partner in any danger from this Jose guy?"

"DiNozzo doesn't seem to think so. I think as long as Daddy Padilla adores DiNozzo, Jose has his hands tied. Now, as I was saying, Padilla's drug ring is the one of the biggest on the East Coast. They started out small, you know, selling pot to college kids and making nothing but pocket change. But Padilla has expanded his operation and now deals with multiple gangs. He's tied to various suppliers around the world, many from below the border. We bring him down, it could be the first domino in a line of dozens of gangs and criminal organizations. Unfortunately, that's the reason it's been so hard to get anything on this guy."

"Well why do you need someone in his inner circle? Why not just find a few of the goons low on the food chain and bring them in. I'm sure they'd go for a deal…" Campbell asked.

"Whistle blowers tend not to last long enough to testify," Cook answered. "But that's not the main reason. Padilla is powerful; and the only reason he got that way is that he's paranoid. He hardly lets anyone in. The guys low on the food chain don't know any valuable info. For that, you gotta know Padilla. And that's why we sent DiNozzo in. He's a bit unconventional, but he's unsurpassed when it comes to undercover work…calls it the 'DiNozzo Charm' whatever that is," he chuckled. "But it works, and it gets results and I'm gonna get him out."

"DiNozzo assumed the undercover persona, 'Antonio DeSalvo', and sought out Padilla as a new supplier. Initially we only planned for him to get close enough to steal the files off Padilla's laptop; there, we'd find enough incriminating evidence to bring down the whole drug ring and possibly convict a number of gang leaders. We installed a broken security camera in the warehouse where they were to meet. After Padilla had a man inspect it and determine it was not functional, we sent a man over the next night to replace it with a identical but working one."

"But wait, wouldn't they have noticed a camera just appearing out of nowhere, broken or not?"

Cook smiled, "This was the first time they used this warehouse. But the meeting with DeSalvo went well and Padilla took a liking to him very quickly. As he did a few more deals with Tony, he started using this warehouse more and more.

"DiNozzo checked in every week, and I don't know how the kid did it, but within 3 weeks, Padilla had already offered him a position in his organization. DiNozzo just has a way with people, I guess. And then about a month into the operation, he called, telling us he'd gotten some vital information and that he might have enough to bring him down in a week or two. The next week's update was what we'd been waiting for—he'd found the laptop and the files were now on a flashdrive. He emailed them to the lab techs. These things were gold…enough to put away almost the entire drug ring for years, plus evidence incriminating the higher-ups in at least a half dozen gangs on the East Coast. The one thing that was missing: anything tying Padilla and his son to the criminal activity."

"How the hell is that possible? Isn't it Padilla's laptop?" Blackadder asked, unable to understand how they could still have nothing.

"DiNozzo swabbed for fingerprints…there were none. The laptop isn't registered to Padilla, and none of its contents had anything to do with him. He deals in fake identities that lead authorities on wild goose chases, and he deals in cash…mostly non-sequential hundred dollar bills. Sure, DiNozzo could testify that he was in possession of the laptop, but his lawyers would never let that stick. We had everything, but we still had nothing."

"I'm sorry, but I don't see what this has to do with our dead Petty Officer…" Campbell interrupted, bored with the proceedings. He wanted to get out and get the killer, not wait around and hear stories from some no-name cop.

"Shut up, Campbell." Gibbs snapped.

"I honestly, don't know all about your dead Petty Officer yet, Mr. Campbell," Cook said, dropping the agent title from Campbell's name, "but tonight DiNozzo's due to check in again, and maybe he can tell us something…"

"Yeah, like how an undercover cop stood by and let a Petty Officer be killed right there…"

"Campbell, one more word and so help me I will kick your ass so far out of this building that not even the FBI will look at you!" Gibbs snarled, sick of the junior agent.

"Thank you, Agent Gibbs. Now as I was saying, we had nothing, but DiNozzo had a plan. A huge deal was going to go down in a week with a local gang. DiNozzo set it up to occur in the warehouse."

"Wait, this is what we just watched on the security tape?" Blackadder asked.

"Yes" Cook said bitterly. "We had a perimeter set up around the warehouse. A few detectives were stationed just inside the warehouse-Tony told them where to hide so they wouldn't be seen. The deal was perfect because both Vincente and Jose were going to be there. However, as you can see from the tape, they hadn't arrived yet. Tony was there with 3 other members of the organization; 2 were just hired guns and the other was a low level member of the drug ring trying to prove himself. The plan was for DiNozzo to signal us when both Padilla and his son arrived; we would then wait for the deal to go down to ensure we had enough evidence, and then rush the warehouse. Vincente and Jose would be sitting ducks."

"But things didn't go according to plan," Gibbs said.

"No, some damn, shiny, new detective trying to make a name for himself thought he saw a signal and rushed. He realized his mistake and tried to get back, but one of DiNozzo's companions noticed him. Tony sent 2 of the goons to the back of the warehouse to search, knowing they would find no one. Then he led the charge toward our positions, making sure not to get too close. He knocked the guy out and told Detective Rayburn to get the hell out of there. We had to pull out before the deal went down."

"But DiNozzo's cover is still intact?"

"Yeah, he told me he managed to convince his companion that the cop knocked him out and got away before he could shoot him. Unfortunately, the raid put Padilla on alert and he's been overly cautious ever since. In fact, DiNozzo reported that he hadn't used the warehouse ever since."

"That would explain the lack of activity between the failed raid and the murder the other day." Blackadder mused.

"Yeah, since then, operations in that warehouse have ceased, but DiNozzo said they weren't done with that particular warehouse yet."

"Obviously." Gibbs stated.

"Ah, yes, and now getting to the dead Petty Officer. I watched the tape; the man in charge was definitely Jose Padilla. I don't think his father will be too happy with him getting anywhere near the bloodshed, but the video evidence is not going to be enough. Those damn lawyers again; they'll point out that you can't prove anything since Jose didn't pull the trigger."

"So what you're saying is that we need another raid?" Gibbs concluded.

"What I'm saying is that we should talk to DiNozzo. He hasn't updated us yet this week. He'll be able to fill in any holes and may even be able to tell us what your Petty Officer was doing in the warehouse."

"All right, Detective, can you get the evidence your boy has collected so far to my forensic scientist, Abby?"

"Of course. I'll just need access to a computer."

"Use mine. And then work on getting through to DiNozzo. Do you think he could do a video conference?"

"He has his own place and Padilla trusts him, so I don't think he's being watched, if that's what you're asking. But I have to wait for him to contact me; I could blow his cover if I called at the wrong time."

"Well establish a connection to him quickly-we're gonna need to talk to him!"

Detective Cook left and Gibbs turned to his team.

"Campbell, I want everything you can find on Padilla. Search through everything, no matter how small. We're gonna need all we can get. Blackadder, backrounds on both Cook and DiNozzo. Be discreet! I want to know who we're dealing with here. I'm gonna go to MTAC and get the director to work out a shared jurisdiction plan with Baltimore's Chief of Police."

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Detective Aaron Cook sat at Agent Gibbs' computer. He opened up his email account and downloaded all the files to Gibbs' computer. He couldn't help thinking of how much trouble he was in. The chief had made it clear he wasn't to involve NCIS and he was about to get the surprise of his life when the Director of NCIS contacted him demanding shared jurisdiction. He sensed a suspension in his future, or at least a probation notice. However, he knew that as mad as Chief Tillman would be, he wasn't in danger of getting fired. He was one of the most well-liked and respected detectives in the department, and Chief Tillman had always supported him.

That's why he had been partnered with DiNozzo, the young, promising detective with a reckless streak he was supposed to help tame. Well, that's one case he had failed on; in the two years he had been partnered with Tony, they'd attained the highest closure rate in the department, but Tony's unconventional methods had not changed. In fact, sometimes he wondered if Tony had gotten more reckless since they'd become partners. But to be honest, he was relieved he'd been unable to 'tame' DiNozzo; the kid may have been an 'original' in some of his methods, but he got the job done. He worked hard, talked smooth, and enjoyed life-he didn't want to change anything.

But he could tell that despite Tony's love for the job, he was getting restless. He hadn't lasted more than two years the last two cities, Peoria and Philadelphia, and he didn't believe Baltimore would be different. He could sense his partner wanting to move on, and sometimes he didn't blame him. Tony didn't get the respect he deserved at the station. People judged too quickly. His frat-boy mask was just as convincing as the 'Antonio DeSalvo mask he now wore on this undercover mission. He knew that as much as he wanted Tony to stay his partner, this environment wasn't what Tony was looking for. But while Tony was still his partner, he would have Tony's back, and he'd get him out of this mess. He could think about personal stuff later.

And with that last thought, he downloaded the last of the files Tony had collected into an attachment and emailed them to the forensic scientist, Abby.

Meanwhile, Campbell and Blackadder were hard at work with their respective tasks. Campbell couldn't seem to find anything new on Padilla. What was he supposed to find that the FBI and BPD hadn't? Padilla was clean, just a parking ticket to his name. Somehow he'd managed to run an entire drug ring and never get charged with anything. Every lead he checked out got him nowhere. Campbell was starting to get flustered; if he had nothing for Gibbs again, he was sure to be fired. Not that that would be the worst thing in the world-it's not like he had enjoyed his stint on Team Gibbs. However, he hoped that if things got bad enough, he'd have a chance to quit. He didn't want to have his record tainted with being fired from his first job as an agent.

Blackadder was also hard at work, doing a different type of background. She could understand Gibbs' need to trust the people he was working with, but this seemed like a breach of privacy. She had gained access to both Cook and DiNozzo's files and was creating profiles of both detectives. Despite her initial reaction, she had come to like Cook and would have no problem trusting him. She didn't see why she had to go through all his files. As for this DiNozzo guy-he was more of a mystery, but from what she had seen on the tapes, he was very competent at undercover work. And yet, here she was, breaking into secure files to get dirt on them. She never would have done this before working with Gibbs, oh how things change.

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To say that Chief Tillman was mad at his Detective would be an understatement. He was livid, so much so that he wanted to pull the plug on the entire mission. It would show his Detective what happened when you went behind his back. But he couldn't do that. He had too much respect for Detective Cook. And even if he didn't exactly adore DiNozzo, he wouldn't let all his hard work go for naught. However, no matter how much he liked his Detectives, some disciplinary action had to be taken. He would place Detective Cook on probation for the remainder of the year. It was just a slap on the wrist, but hopefully it would discourage further DiNozzo-esque acts. It was funny, he had paired the two, hoping Cook would rub off on DiNozzo, but instead, DiNozzo was rubbing off on Cook.

When the Director of NCIS had first contacted him and informed him of the situation, he had immediately refused to allow NCIS into the case. This was his operation; his department had gotten further than even the FBI in just 2 months. However, he had been personally assured by Agent Gibbs that the Baltimore PD would receive all the credit for taking down Padilla. They were just there to assist, having more technology and additional manpower for the eventual apprehension of both Vincente and Jose. Plus, despite Detective Cook's insubordination, it could be beneficial to sometimes work with federal agencies; it couldn't hurt to have a few friends in NCIS for a different case down the road. So in the end he had agreed to the joint op. His men would have to do less work and wouldn't be stretched too thin, and he'd get all the good publicity when the case was closed and the bastards were finally brought to justice.

Gibbs emerged from MTAC an hour later and immediately headed down to Abby's lab.

"You go through the evidence yet, Abs?"

"Right on time as always, Bossman! Except I've never really got that saying...'cause time isn't really a concrete thing you know, and so I don't know how anybody can be on it. Although you're the Great Leroy Jethro Gibbs, so if anyone could be physically 'on time' you could..."

"Abs, the evidence!"

"Oh right," she said, turning to her computers and pulling up the files. "This DiNozzo guy, he's like really good. I mean, probably not Gibbs-good, cause if that happened, the universe would explode. Wait, maybe implode...I'm not sure yet, but I am sure that the universe would plode if there were 2 Gibbses...or maybe he's like a Gibblet? Oooh, I like the sound of that: Gibblet, Gibblet, Gibblet..."

"Abby!"

"Anyways," she started, smiling slyly at Gibbs. "This evidence is solid. Totally incriminating to all the bad guys it mentions. I mean, this Padilla guy may protect himself, but he sure has tons of dirt on all his associates. He's got tons of financial documents and records of all their deals. Unfortunately though, unless we can catch Padilla in the act and prove that he's involved, he could go free."

"Well, we'll have to go and do just that then, won't we? Thanks Abs."

"Caff-Pow?"

"Put it on my tab, I've got a few Detectives to talk to." He said, smiling and walking out of the lab.

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When Gibbs returned to the bullpen, Detective Cook looked at him expectantly. _Probably wondering if he still has a job,_ Gibbs thought to himself.

"We have shared jurisdiction," Gibbs said, offering no more explanation as he stood in front of Cook. If Cook was expecting more, he didn't show it, instead opting to fill Gibbs in.

"DiNozzo can do a video conference. He's due in about 10 minutes."

Gibbs nodded before turning to Campbell.

"Anything?"

"No Sir...I mean, sorry, no Boss, nothing."

"You planning on contributing anything to this investigation, Campbell?" Gibbs asked. He knew he was being harsh on the kid, but he honestly couldn't stand him much longer.

"I'm sorry boss, but there really was nothing. The FBI and BPD have exhausted every lead."

"Don't apologize, sign of weakness." Gibbs said, almost automatically.

Just then, Gibbs' phone rang. The team sat by as he answered gruffly. A few seconds later, he hung up abruptly. _Clearly not a man for pleasantries, _Cook thought ruefully, smiling a little in amusement.

"Seems like DiNozzo's ready a few minutes early-he's on in MTAC," Gibbs said. The group quickly got up and followed Gibbs up the stairs. Team Gibbs was finally going to meet the man from the video.

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Once the team was settled in MTAC, the MTAC control officers put Tony's video feed on the big screen. Gibbs immediately analyzed the man that appeared. He was young, _almost too young to be a detective,_ he mused. He wore a cheeky grin and his green eyes sparkled as he addressed his partner.

"Cookie!" he exclaimed, his tone of voice and mannerisms not at all reflecting the grueling undercover assignment he'd been on for the past two months.

"DiNozzo," Cook greeted fondly, choosing to ignore the hated nickname Tony had bestowed upon him less than a week into their partnership.

"I see you've finally crumbled, Cookie-putting your lot in with the Feds? Did Tillman shoot you yet?"

"Very funny, DiNozzo. These are Special Agents Gibbs, Blackadder, and Campbell. NCIS was brought in because a Petty Officer was killed at the warehouse...you know anything about it?"

At this, Gibbs noticed, DiNozzo grew serious. He had been watching their little exchange with both amusement and impatience, but before he'd had time to verbally abuse the smart ass Detective, he'd changed to all-business.

"I know that Jose ordered it, and Vincente wasn't happy at all," Tony started. "I'm sorry it happened; I wasn't there at the time. Vincente and I were setting up a new deal, and Jose was left in charge. Next thing I know, Jose is getting chewed out by his father and I'm learning of a murder. You say the vic was a Petty Officer?"

"Yes, Petty Officer Christopher Morrow," Blackadder supplied.

"Ah, finally one of the silent suits speaks up! Have a name, milady?" Tony asked suavely, giving Blackadder one of his 100-watt grins.

"Agent Blackadder, or Vivian if you prefer."

"Oh, I do," Tony continued with a grin.

"DiNozzo."

"Oh right, anyways, a Petty Officer Morrow...wait, did you background him?"

"Yeah, I did!" Campbell said, stepping up a little too quickly.

"Aren't you the little eager beaver?" Tony joked before again grunting, "Uh, right, Morrow-did he have any relatives living locally?"

"Yes, he did," Blackadder said, stepping forward again. "I believe he had a younger brother, an..."

"Alex Morrow?" Tony finished for her.

She nodded in affirmative.

"Shit," Tony cursed softly, looking down for a moment. When he once again looked up at the team, he asked, "I assume you've watched the security tapes?"

"We have...Tony, what happened the day before the murder?" Cook asked.

"Alex Morrow was better known as Alex Young when he was dealing with us. Don't know why he wanted to go by another name, after all, Padilla's got some deep connections and we quickly dug up his real name. But if the guy feels better going by an alias, who am I to stop him? Although, _Alex Young_? I would have picked a better name..."

"Hey Tony, we got a drug ring to bring down..." Cook interjected, though not unkindly.

"Right, sorry. Anyways, Alex was one of our low level suppliers. He had somehow found a way to get Padilla some prescription drugs though, and those are more of a rare commodity on the street. I could tell he wasn't the hardened criminal he wanted everyone to believe he was; to me, he looked more like a young kid who was in way over his head..."

"What the _hell _does this have to do with our dead Petty Officer, Detective?" Campbell interrupted, receiving a glare from Gibbs.

"Well I was actually gonna get to that if any of you would let me," Tony retorted. He already didn't like this Campbell character.

"As I was saying, Alex didn't look like the type of kid to act out in class, let alone get involved in a drug ring. Recently, in particular, he'd been slacking off on his job. I think he had a change of heart about the whole thing. Unfortunately, in Padilla's mindset, once you're in, you're in for life. Padilla sent one of his low-life goons after him to beat some sense into him. When I heard about it, I assured them I'd take care of him and intervened; I couldn't just let the kid get beaten into a coma. I sent the goon away and pretended to deal with the kid myself."

"And how did you do that?" Blackadder asked.

"I told him that if he wants to live he'd better get the hell outta there and never come back-that Padilla wasn't gonna have any mercy on him, and that I wouldn't either if I ever saw his face again. The kid took off fast. He's probably somewhere in Algeria if he knows what's good for him."

"Still doesn't explain why his brother was murdered there just hours later," Gibbs finally spoke up.

"Whoa!" Tony dramatically jumped back, long limbs flailing around the small space. "And here I thought the Silver Fox was a mute! I mean, don't get me wrong, I love a good silent film..." he trailed off at the glare Gibbs was giving him, but his eyes still twinkled in mischief and Gibbs got the feeling he was less intimidated than he seemed.

"The brother has everything to do with it!" Tony exclaimed, as if it were the easiest thing in the world. Gibbs frowned; he wasn't sure if he liked this kid's approach or attitude, but he seemed to be competent. He let him continue.

"Well, probably everything. I mean, it's always the brother..."

"I thought it was always the wife?" Cook joked, knowing it was best to keep things light with Tony. The kid may not be showing it, but he knew this tough undercover assignment was getting to him; jokes always kept him sane.

"That too...but there's no wife this time."

"You saying Alex Morrow killed Christopher Morrow?" Blackadder gasped, a little confused. "But there's no motive."

"No, you're not listening Viv...mind if I call you Viv?" At this, Campbell almost gagged. _Who did this hot shot Detective think he was? Was he really hitting on his partner?_

"Anyways, I mean that the brother has to be involved," Tony continued. "I had never seen or heard of a Petty Officer Morrow until the murder happened. This guy definitely wasn't involved in the drug ring."

"Maybe you just missed him," Campbell offered snidely.

"No...I'm Padilla's second in command. I know about everyone involved in the drug ring in some way. But what I do know, is what Jose said to his father about the murder. Said he caught the guy snooping around the warehouse, figured he was no good and had him killed."

"Smart..." Blackadder commented sarcastically.

"Yeah, well there's a reason I'm his second in command, and not his son. As I said earlier, Vincente was pissed. Like think Frank Castle in _The Punisher_. I thought he was gonna gun down his son right there, but that'd probably be too messy and it'd get the cops involved again. But here's the kicker," he paused, his expression opening into a radiant smile, "I got it on tape!"

"But we have it on tape too, there's no way to pin it on him."

"No, not the murder, the confession! I recorded the whole thing!" The Detective was practically bouncing now.

"DiNozzo! I told you not to wire yourself! It's too dangerous! If you'd been caught, you would have ended up like Petty Officer Morrow!" Cook admonished, though he couldn't quite hide the pride from his voice.

"Wait, no '_Thank you Tony, you risked your life to get the evidence to bring down a man the FBI's been unable to touch for 3 years_?' Plus, it's not like I get searched anymore, I'm Padilla's right hand man! This is big, guys!"

Gibbs had to admit, this DiNozzo guy was good. The wire was risky, some would even say stupid, but it had got the job done. For all the kid's annoying mannerisms, he could see that he was a capable investigator.

"But wait, there's more!" Tony crowed, using his best advertisement voice. "There was a reason I wasn't there when Jose went postal on the Petty Officer. Padilla and I set up another deal, and it's set to go down tomorrow night at Pier 12."

"He's not still suspicious after the last fiasco?" Cookasked, slightly surprised.

"I can be quite convincing when I want to be," DiNozzo said, waggling his eyebrows. "Anyway, Vincente hasn't trusted this warehouse since the failed raid. He thought the Feds were onto him and that they are watching the warehouse, which is why the deal won't be happening there. He fortunately doesn't think there's a mole anymore...I managed to pin that on Alex after I was sure he was never coming back. You see, Vincente thinks I dealt with him in a different way-I assured him that neither he nor the police would ever find his body. So we've got a second chance to get them both during this raid...that is, if you can hold off your rush until they've actually done something illegal." Tony finished, his last sentence a little sharper than he intended.

"Are you sure about this, Tony? I mean, if anything goes wrong, it's your head on the block." Cook said, clearly worried for his partner.

"Look Cookie, it's our only chance. As much as I enjoy being Antonio DeSalvo, it's getting a little old. Although it's like being in a movie. Maybe "The Departed"? I'm like Billy Costigan, infiltrating the drug ring and getting close to Padilla...wait no, that wouldn't work..."

"I know, you look nothing like Leo DiCaprio." Aaron chuckled

"Hey! It wouldn't work because somebody's gotta be Colin Sullivan, the mole that infiltrates the police. We don't got a mole...do we? Oh wait, how about Detective Rayburn? He screwed up the raid..."

"DiNozzo."

"You're right, maybe it's more like Donnie Brasco..."

"Are you two finished?" Gibbs asked, exasperated.

They concluded their video conference after touching up on the plan of the raid. Pier 12 was set up very much like the warehouse, so fortunately their plans did not change much. They were going to surround the warehouse, like before. Team Gibbs and Cook would be at the back of the building. When the raid commenced, Tony would be sure to lead Vincente and Jose, their 2 main targets, toward the team. The goal was to take them alive. They would try to round up as many other players as they could, but they knew that to make a difference and call the mission a success, they would have to take out the heart of the operation.

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Gibbs emerged from MTAC with his gut churning. It was a good plan, it sounded plausible, but something wasn't sitting right.

"Everyone, go home and get some rest. There's nothing more you can do tonight." He said, addressing his team. "Cook, the Director has arranged a hotel room for you." He said, handing the Detective a sheet with directions on it.

At Cook's surprised look, Gibbs continued, "You're off the case officially, but that doesn't start until tomorrow, after the raid. I managed to convince your Chief that we need all the help we can get."

Astonished, Cook thanked Gibbs and headed out. He couldn't believe he was still officially allowed to participate in the raid. He was of course planning to go no matter what, but now he actually had his Chief Tillman's blessing, if you could call it that.

Gibbs' team went back to their desks and gathered their stuff. Just before they boarded the elevator, Gibbs called Blackadder back.

With the bullpen now empty except for Gibbs and Blackadder, Gibbs turned to his agent, "Sitrep."

"What? Didn't we just go over everything in MTAC?"

"On the backgrounds," Gibbs grunted, a little annoyed.

"Oh...well, I wasn't sure what you were looking for..." she started. "Um, yes. Detective Cook has been a member of the Baltimore PD his whole career. Numerous commondations and seems to be everyone's favorite cop. Been cited for bravery and he and DiNozzo have the highest closure rate in the department. I mean, he looks clean, Gibbs. Were you expecting anything else?"

"Nope. Just want to know who I'm dealing with." In reality, Gibbs hadn't expected to find anything amiss in the Detective's records. He thought himself to be a good judge of character and Detective Cook seemed to be a good man. His partner, he was less sure about.

"And DiNozzo?"

"Uh, well To- I mean, Detective DiNozzo, has an interesting record. Personally, it looks like he doesn't have much of a family life. His mother is dead and...um well, it looks like his father disowned him. He graduated from Ohio State, Phys Ed major, and get this, he almost went pro in football..." Blackadder stopped at the glare she was receiving. "Uh right, relevant information. Anyway, prior to Baltimore, he was with both Peoria and Philly, stayed at each place for about 2 years. He's now been at Baltimore for about 2 years as well. He has a bunch of formal reprimands in his file, but even more awards and commondations for bravery. Weird though, most of the reprimands don't really give a reason, and most are paired with an award of some sort."

"That all, Blackadder?"

"Almost. Just one more thing. I think he would give you a run for your money in number of hospital visits." she said with a smile.

"Go home, Blackadder." Gibbs said, a little amused with her last comment.

He wasn't sure whether to be impressed with or worried about DiNozzo's record. The kid sounded like a loose cannon, switching departments every two years, leaving behind a trail of reprimands. _And awards, _he reminded himself. After talking to him in MTAC, Gibbs hadn't been sure what to think, and it had frustrated him, for he had always been able to judge character. He could see why DiNozzo was so good at undercover work, but to him, that meant very little. He had to know whether he could truly trust him. Unfortunatley, tomorrow, he would have no choice. But Cook had vouched for the kid, and there had to be some reason he put up with his jokes. He had to admit, DiNozzo had done an admirable job getting the evidence, and now they just had to work together to finish the mission. He wasn't sure if he could trust the young Detective, but he supposed that tomorrow he'd find out.

**I've got some good news for you all. Everyone in my family is heading back to school tomorrow and all my friends are at college, (I don't start for another month). So what does that mean? I'm bored! Which means I have way more time to write and unless I get a huge case of writer's block, I should get this story written a lot faster. ****Oh, also, the "ploding" thing Abby rambles about was taken from my favorite singer…virtual funfetti cake to anyone who can guess who he is, just from that. =) ****Thanks for reading! Review please!**

**Peas, **

**Stephanie**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone. Thank you for your detailed reviews. It's great to hear from you all. This chapter is nowhere near as long as the other one (that one was just ridiculously long, most chapters will be this length). This raid scene gave me a little bit of trouble because I have no experience in these things, but I tried to make it as believable as possible. Enjoy and please review! It only takes like 10 seconds! I don't own NCIS.**

**Chapter 4**

Antonio DeSalvo lounged his long frame in one of the plush armchairs of Vincente Padilla's private office. He had just finished going over logistics with his boss about the huge deal that was about to go down. Padilla had taken a liking to him the minute they met, and he now trusted his second in command to plan his big-time deals for him.

The job had been Jose's, but after the last fiasco 2 weeks ago, he had handed the responsibility to DeSalvo, who, although not his son by blood, was closer to him than Jose could ever be.

"This is perfect," Vincente said confidently to his second. "With the cops all over the old warehouse, no one'll bother us at Pier 12. It's almost too easy," he chuckled.

"Exactly why I went for it. The way I figure, it'll be a quick meeting, very few men needed. We get in and get out. All we really need is the important players. You, me, and Jose."

"You're quite right, Antonio. I'm only taking those closest to me; the ones I trust. I'm taking no chances that another low life like Alex blows the whole deal for me."

"That's why you've got me. I got your back, man. Soon you'll rule the entire east cost." Tony said, stroking the drug lord's ego.

"I know, son, I know." Vincente said, smiling fondly at his right hand man.

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The next morning, there was a certain tension surrounding the MCRT's section of the bullpen. The team knew this raid was important, and that it had to be executed perfectly to catch both Vincente and Jose. However, while Gibbs and Blackadder were focusing more on the importance of apprehending the drug kingpins, Campbell was in his own little world, thinking of the effect the outcome of this raid could possibly have on his career. He fervently hoped that he would be the one to save the day and get the bad guys. _That would look amazing on my resume,_ he mused. In truth, Campbell was upset Gibbs had offered the Baltimore PD full credit. _How am I supposed to get a promotion when no one recognizes what I do?_ He thought. But he figured if he played an integral part in the raid today, maybe took out a few bad guys, then maybe the Director would reconsider the decision to hand over all the credit.

"Got a text from DiNozzo," Cook suddenly announced from his camp at the empty desk in the bullpen.

Gibbs looked up expectantly.

"It says: 'V put me in charge of security. Not bringing the whole crew. Only 2 goons in back w/ orders not 2 follow us out'" Cook smiled. "I knew it."

"Knew what?" Campbell asked.

"That DiNozzo could convince Vincente to let him handle the security plans. He's setting them up so that we have the best possible chance of taking both Vincente and Jose alive and getting out of there with no casualties."

Gibbs nodded his approval. So far, so good. DiNozzo was at least doing his part, now they had to do theirs.

"All right, Blackadder, Campbell, Detective, let's review." He said, getting up and standing in front of the plasma, where Blackadder had uploaded a floorplan of the warehouse on Pier 12 that the raid would take place in.

"Here's the layout. We'll go early and set up here," Blackadder pointed to a small but strategic hiding spot behind some crates near the back of the warehouse. "It gives us a perfect view of the deal in the warehouse and we're virtually impossible to find. Unfortunately, it won't hold up long under fire…"

"Which is why we're not near the firefight," Gibbs said simply.

"Right. As long as we don't get involved in the firefight, the plan should work." She finished.

"Wait, we're not involved in the raid?" Campbell asked, angry surprise painting his pinched face as he looked up from cleaning his SIG.

"Did I say that, Campbell?" Gibbs snapped.

"Yes sir…I mean, no sir?"

"We're still involved in the raid, just in a different way. Continue, Blackadder."

"Of course," she said smoothly, shooting a glare at her partner. "We'll be stationed in our hiding spot, waiting for Jose and Vincente to make a run for the back exit. We already know that Padilla orders his men never to surrender to the police, so we are expecting some sort of firefight.

"The trap is set up so that when the police enter, most of the players will run for the seemingly unoccupied side door. Their attention will be sufficiently diverted by gunfire coming from the front door and the right side, forcing them further toward the left side of the warehouse."

"And farther away from us!"

"Yes, that would be the point, Mr. Campbell," Cook stated sharply. He then continued where Blackadder left off.

"DiNozzo says he isn't bringing the whole crew…I'm guessing it'll only be the men he trusts. Padilla's a paranoid SOB, so that brings their numbers down to around 10. So, counting Jose and Vincente, there should be about 12 of them. Tony will be standing towards the back of the warehouse, along with Jose and Vincente. Unfortunately, according to the text, Vincente still insists on having 2 of his goons with him, but hopefully they will listen to orders and engage in the gunfight instead of following their bosses to 'safety.'"

"What if they don't?" Blackadder asked. "I mean, it's a real possibility…"

"If they don't, then we hold fire and wait for Tony's signal." Cook said. "Our main objective is to take Vincente and Jose. If we open fire it'll draw attention to the back of the warehouse. Our position will be compromised and the confusion could allow them to get away. Not to mention, Tony will be in the line of fire…"

"But what if we have a clear shot?" Campbell asked, still itching to get in on the action.

"You will follow orders Campbell; if you cannot, you will not participate in the raid at all." Gibbs barked.

"Understood," Campbell muttered weakly. This raid was sounding less exciting by the second. _How am I supposed to be the hero without firing a shot?_

"All right. Gear up!" Gibbs said. They would go early to take up their position. The other agents would not converge on the warehouse until all the players were inside and the deal was actually happening. They would not have a repeat of last time.

_We're finally getting you out, Tony._ Cook thought as he followed the agents into the elevator.

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Everything was set up and ready to go. Team Gibbs and Detective Cook were holed up in their strategic hiding spot inside the warehouse. Their backup, consisting of both NCIS agents and a few Baltimore cops, had established a perimeter around a quarter mile radius of the actual warehouse. They would not get any closer until the parties had gone inside; no one was taking any chances on being seen before the deal went down.

Both parties arrived at about the same time, with Padilla and his crew arriving just minutes before the local gang. Gibbs watched as the group emerged through the side door. There were 12 all together, just as Cook had predicted. Jose Padilla was up front, flanked by 2 henchmen.

DiNozzo was towards the rear of the group, his confident swagger unmistakable. He was alongside Vincente, and Gibbs could tell right away that the drug lord truly trusted the undercover cop who had become his second in command. DiNozzo was smiling easily and talking to his boss, who true to form, was still looking around the warehouse suspiciously. But as the men took their places near the back of the warehouse, the drug kingpin's expression had already morphed into a small smile, Tony having somehow put him at ease.

A few minutes later, the second party, Los Tiburones, a gang that had recently acquired a certain notoriety on the east coast, also arrived. There were a little less of them, only 9 members, but they were armed heavily.

As the 2 parties met in the center of the warehouse, Gibbs signaled for their backup to converge around the outside of the building. Gibbs noted the positions of each of the players. On the north end of the warehouse, with their backs turned to their hiding spot, stood Vincente, now flanked by DiNozzo and Jose. The 2 goons that had entered alongside Jose still stood next to the young man, their hands surreptitiously resting on their sidearms. The rest of the Padilla crew was off to the side, eyes trained on the gang across from them. The 2 leaders of Los Tiburones stood directly across from Vincente and his crew, with the rest of their men in the background, on alert.

Meanwhile, Campbell could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins as he looked out at the deal happening before him. This was his chance. He was going to show Gibbs that he was a capable agent. He'd been with Gibbs for 2 months now; in his mind, he was done being a probie. Vincente and Jose were going down, and he was determined to be the hero.

Next to Campbell, Detective Cook also had his gaze fixated on the scene before him. He was looking at one of the most notorious drug lords Baltimore had ever seen, and his partner, his friend, was standing not 2 feet away from him. He was confident in Agent Gibbs and his ability to conduct this raid successfully, but he knew that Tony was still in danger, and would be until Jose and Vincente were safely locked away. He took a deep breath as he saw Gibbs prepare to give the signal to enter. He shut his fears for Tony out of his head; the kid had more lives than a cat anyway. If anyone could get through a 2 month undercover stint and 2 drug raids without a scratch on him, it was his partner.

And with that thought in his head, he saw Gibbs give the signal.

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Everything happened fast. The cops entered amidst shouts of 'Police, Don't Move!' Tony quickly jumped to action, grabbing Vincente and telling him to move toward the back of the warehouse.

"There's a back door, let your men take them, we've gotta go!" he shouted, dragging a panicking Padilla toward the door. Jose was right behind his father, but to Tony's dismay, he had ordered his 2 goons to follow.

"Hey!" Tony yelled, pointing toward the firefight at the other end of the warehouse. "You're under orders to hold them off, do not follow!" But the goons ignored him still following Jose toward the back of the warehouse, their berrettas at the ready.

Behind them was mass chaos. Both Los Tiburones and Padilla's men had engaged the police in a massive gunfight. However, they were much more concerned with getting away and were starting to break cover to head for the side door. Though Tony was a little distracted at the moment, it looked like the police had the upper hand and had pinned down many of the players. Those that had run for the side door were met with more cops, and were likely surrendering their weapons, with nowhere else to run. It was clear his backup had done their part, now he had to do his.

Gibbs watched as the raid went down and DiNozzo grabbed their targets, leading them toward their hiding spot, but he cursed when he saw Jose's 2 goons break away from the action to follow their bosses.

"We hold fire," Gibbs whispered urgently to his team.

"But Boss, they followed. We have to take them out," Campbell hissed, unlocking the safety of his SIG.

"Hey! Put that down. Hold your fire, that's an order!" Gibbs returned, not in the mood for Campbell right now.

Campbell couldn't believe it. Gibbs was just gonna let these guys follow? How were they supposed to take down Vincente and Jose when they had 2 bodyguards with them? No, he wouldn't let this happen. He took aim and fired. Henchman #1 dropped to his knees.

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They were nearing the hiding spot. It was taking much longer than Tony anticipated because Padilla had chosen that moment to lose his cool. _I guess you can only take so much failure before the paranoia gets ya._ Tony thought. Speaking of failure, Jose's 2 goons, Del and Ian, were still behind him. _Dammit,_ he cursed under his breath, taking out his berretta. He signaled to his partner and the NCIS agents to hold fire. He knew Jose's friends were trigger-happy, and wouldn't hesitate to obliterate their little hiding spot. Plus, it would draw unwanted attention from the participants in the gunfight behind him. It wouldn't be safe to make a move until they were outside…

_BAM!_ He heard the shot and Del went down. Jose and Ian spun around, registering Del's new position on his knees with a bullet hole in his abdomen, before aiming their weapons right at Team Gibbs' hiding place.

"Shit!" Tony cursed, as they opened fire on the now-precarious hideaway.

"Jose!" Vincente yelled, wildly gesturing for Jose to give up the fight and flee with him. Seeing one of Padilla's well-armed goons coming from the other end of the warehouse, Jose left his position next to Ian to join his father. They were going to make their getaway.

The crates were splintering under the relentless gunfire. Gibbs knew their position would only hold for a few more minutes, if they were lucky. There was nowhere to go, and they couldn't risk taking a shot because they'd be sitting ducks. "Dammit, Campbell!" He yelled, needing to get some of his frustration out.

Campbell, after taking the initial shot, finally realized his mistake. There was no way they could take them here. The crates were barely holding the bullets off, and the new gunfire was drawing the attention from the few players left standing at the other side of the warehouse. They were doomed.

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_Well, it's now or never…_ Tony thought. He hadn't really been planning on breaking his cover until after both Vincente and Jose were behind bars, but his partner was in danger. The crates weren't going to hold; a few bullets had already made their way through and he prayed Aaron hadn't been hit. Unfortunately, he was pretty sure that the second he opened fire on Ian, Vincente would either shoot him or run. _Probably run,_ he thought. In the weeks he had spent with Vincente, he'd come to find the man was actually quite a coward. So now he was faced with a choice, grab Vincente and Jose and leave and wait for another raid, or let go and save his partner's life. He didn't have to think twice.

Tony turned around and fired at Ian. The shot was perfect, hitting him high in the shoulder of his shooting arm. Ian dropped the gun as Vincente and Jose stared at him in shock. Tony had little time to think though, because goon replacement #1 opened fire on him. He didn't even flinch as a bullet grazed his left bicep, instead raising his weapon and firing a double tap into the man's heart.

Tony quickly turned toward the back door, hoping against hope that maybe Vincente and Jose had stayed, but wasn't surprised to see that there was no sign of them. _We finally get all the evidence to take him down and he _still _gets away!_ Tony thought furiously.

From his position behind the crates, Gibbs saw the young detective take out the 2 shooters, and then turn away to check the door, but movement to his left distracted him. The goon that Campbell shot had composed himself and was now aiming at DiNozzo. Gibbs didn't think. He broke his cover and shot the man dead. At this, the Detective turned around, his eyes widening. Registering the odd expression, Gibbs wondered if this was the kid's first big gunfight. But then Tony's face focused and he raised his weapon, firing at something behind Gibbs. The Lead Agent turn and saw as the last of Padilla's goons fell to the ground. He hadn't noticed him earlier, but Gibbs realized he'd been a sitting duck. The kid had just saved his life.

Taking a quick look around the back of the warehouse, Tony yelled "Clear!" A few more shouts of "Clear" greeted their ears from the agents and cops who had taken care of the front of the warehouse. At this, Tony replaced his berretta in the back of his waistband and turned to the crates as his partner and the 2 other NCIS agents emerged.

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"Tony!" Cook exclaimed, darting towards his injured partner.

"I'm fine, Cookie." Tony grunted, his hand still over his wound. It was just a graze, but it still bled a lot, and he was predicting some stitches in his future. "What the hell happened?" Tony asked, trying to keep the edge out of his voice.

"I don't know," Aaron said truthfully, still looking at Tony's arm to be sure he was okay. He then turned to Campbell, "What the hell was that?"

Campbell seemed to wilt away from the gaze of the protective detective. "Uh…I, I don't really know…sir…I mean, I thought…I had the shot…I figured I'd…"

"You figured you'd just open fire and take them down yourself! You could have killed my partner!" he seethed.

"Cookie," Tony started, hoping to draw his attention away. Not that he didn't want to shoot the dumbass agent who'd blown the raid, but this wasn't what he needed, not right now. No, he needed his partner to concentrate on getting Vincente and Jose; right now, that's all that mattered.

Gibbs had been ominously silent since Tony had killed the last man, but finally he spoke up. "Detective DiNozzo, you should get that looked at." He said, referring to his still-bleeding arm. "The paramedics are outside." He truly didn't know what else to say to the young man who had just saved his life. Granted, he'd saved the kid's life too, but there was something about him…

"You've got to be kidding me if you think I'm going to a damn hospital!" Tony spat, looking at both his partner and Gibbs. "If you hadn't noticed, they got away! We have 2 criminals to catch, and if you think I'm just gonna lay in a hospital bed while you guys go get them, you've got another thing coming!"

"DiNozzo," Cook said calmly, trying to get his attention. "You're bleeding, and from the looks of it, you'll need stitches."

"Then stitch me up right here, and let's get going. They can't have gotten too far!" he said, his face set in grim determination.

As Cook led his partner out, Team Gibbs heard him mumble, "We almost fucking had them…"

Gibbs turned back to his team once the 2 detectives had left. "Blackadder, help the teams secure the scene. Find out what happened in the firefight and what we're dealing with." He said as she hurried to the other side of the warehouse. Gibbs then turned to Campbell.

"Go back to the Navy Yard. Pack your desk. The only part of you I ever want to see again is your report on this incident. You're done here. Are we clear?" Gibbs hissed.

"Y-y-yes, sir. Sorry sir." Campbell managed to squeak out before almost running away. He was done. He knew it—his career was over. All he'd wanted to do was be a hero, but he'd messed up.

Gibbs could barely contain his fury as he made his way over to the ambulance. He would make sure that not even the FBI would take Campbell; no one deserved to have to work with an agent as incompetent and reckless as him. He trusted the Blackadder would get him the full report on their failed raid. They would need every bit of intel possible to track down and catch Vincente and Jose. Fortunately, from the looks of things, the other half of the raid had been successful, and many of the key players of the drug ring had been neutralized. _Just not the leaders,_ he thought furiously.

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As Gibbs approached the ambulance, he took in the scene before him. DiNozzo was sitting in the back of the ambulance, alternating between flirting with the young EMT trying to stitch up his arm and arguing with his partner. The wound wasn't serious, but Gibbs was sure it was more painful than the kid let on.

"You can't be serious. But we need you on this case!" DiNozzo was saying.

"Tony, you know that's not possible! I was put on probation because of this case. If I continue to work it officially, Vincente's lawyers will have a field day with that! I'm not jeopardizing the case."

"I can't believe Tillman put you on probation. Can you believe it, Angela?" he asked the EMT with a grin. Then turning back to his partner, he finished, "You weren't out of line, even Tillman's not dense enough to believe that! Plus, I thought you and Tillman were old chums."

"Tillman respects me, which is why I haven't been suspended. Look, Tony, I know this case is important to you, and I've convinced Tillman to let you continue working alongside Gibbs' Team to catch these guys."

"There's no way I'm working alongside the idiot who fired that shot…" Tony stated, anger clouding his voice.

"No need to worry about that," Gibbs interjected, having silently approached the partners. "He's long gone."

"Agent Gibbs." Tony greeted, not at all surprised by the stealth of the ex-marine. He gave him a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes as he said easily, "I hear you're my new partner."

**Hope you enjoyed! I know Tony is a bit more intense in this chapter (I was thinking about his reaction in the episode, Cloak. Next chapter he will be back to being more 'Tony-ish' I promise.) I'll explain more in the next chapter and we'll definitely have lots of Tony and Gibbs. Please review! They really help me write quicker! Thanks so much!**

**Peas,**

**Stephanie**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone! Sorry for the wait for this chapter…I think it's been over a week. I'm starting my freshman year of college in a week and so everything has been crazy. The good news is that I plan to have this story all written by the time I leave, and all posted by the end of September at the latest, so you don't have to worry about me abandoning anything. Also, it's come to my attention that some of the movies Tony references were not out when he joined NCIS…I've decided to keep the references in there because I still think they work and I don't think it really takes away from the story. So anyway, here's the next chapter…Tony and Gibbs are partners and Tony meets Abby =) Thanks so much for the continued support! Enjoy and please review (help me reach my goal of 65 reviews at the end of this chapter) =) I don't own NCIS.**

**Chapter 5**

Gibbs screeched into his space in the NCIS parking garage and got out of the car swiftly. Blackadder followed, still a little unsteady on her feet from the harrowing drive back to headquarters. Gibbs' driving had been worse than usual as he had seemingly transferred all of his frustrations from the raid into his already-terrifying driving style.

But it was Tony who took the worst of it, having never experienced Gibbs' driving before then. He stumbled out of the sedan, still clutching the door like it was his only lifeline.

"You okay, Detective?" Gibbs asked, turning around and smiling a little.

"Oh, just peachy," Tony grunted out, still trying to catch his breath. "You sure you weren't a stunt driver in _The Fast and the Furious_? 'Cause I think you could give those street racers a run for their money. And Cookie said _I _had a death wish…"

"Just don't like wasting time, DiNozzo."

"Yeah, I sure hate wasting time too. Know what else I hate? Driving faster than Dale Earnhardt Jr. while side-swiping every other vehicle and almost running over old ladies crossing the street…"

_SMACK._ Gibbs slapped Tony on the back of the head, cutting off his mini-rant.

DiNozzo turned around slowly, a look of both surprise and anger momentarily crossing his face.

"You done, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, wondering what the kid's smartass reply would be this time. But to his surprise, Tony quickly masked his earlier expression, his green eyes looking calculatingly at Gibbs before he broke into a smile.

"You've been wanting to do that for a while, haven't you?" he asked, his eyes sparkling mischievously. "You know, I think some may call that police brutality."

"Ya gonna report me, DiNozzo?"

"Nope. Not my style. Though I suppose I should be thankful you didn't pistol-whip me."

"DiNozzo, if I pull out my gun on you, I won't be using it as a club."

At that, the kid smiled even wider, "But you wouldn't shoot me, I know it,"

"Oh, I wouldn't, DiNozzo?" Gibbs countered, refusing to let his amusement show.

"Nope. Too much paperwork." He said smoothly before heading to the elevator.

Gibbs shook his head. He had to admit, the kid had guts. He also had a way of both annoying and amusing him at the same time. He still wondered if he could get through this investigation without shooting him.

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"Set up there." Gibbs directed, pointing to Campbell's old desk, directly across from Blackadder's.

"Um, Gibbs? Don't you think Campbell will need his desk when he gets back?" Blackadder asked, not yet aware of the newest developments in Gibbs' personnel situation.

"Well no, Blackadder. Seeing as he's not on the team anymore."

"Not on the team? What...oh." Gibbs silenced any further inqueries with a look.

"Too trigger-happy for you, Gibbs? Didn't think that was possible..." Tony trailed off, realizing he may have gone too far. "Erm, sorry...we should get back to the case."

"Don't apologize, sign of weakness," was Gibbs' only reply, sitting down at his desk. Tony looked at him quizzically. For the life of him he could not figure this marine out. But now wasn't the time; he had to find Vincente and Jose. He was interrupted by Gibbs' order, "Blackadder, status on the raid."

"Other than the obvious," Blackadder said, glancing quickly at Gibbs, "the raid was a success. A few agents were wounded, but they managed to take down almost every player in the raid. Only 2 members of Los Tiburones escaped, but we were able to get the leaders alive. 2 of Padilla's crew surrendered and are downstairs in lockup at the moment. The rest of his crew died during the raid."

"Makes sense," Tony put in. "I mean, Padilla was always preaching to never surrender. I told him that wasn't a good idea, but does he listen?"

"Um, anyways," Blackadder interrupted. "As I said, they're down in lockup now, if you want to interrogate them."

"They won't tell you anything that I can't. I was Padilla's second in command. He told me everything. Whatever you ask those guys, they won't be able to tell you anything useful about your Petty Officer or about Vincente's whereabouts."

"Yeah, I've got a question about that." Blackadder said, smiling slightly at Tony. "You're obviously very high up in the organization...so why did those 2 goons disobey your orders back at the warehouse?"

"The thing about drug rings, is you can never be completely sure about loyalty. I mean, look at my situation. Vincente loved me, thought I was loyal to only him, and I turn out to be an undercover cop. Well same thing goes for the rest of the drug ring. For the most part, the members are loyal to me and Vincente, but there were a few guys who were pretty pissed when I became Padilla's right hand man over Jose.

"Those 2 guys, Del and Ian, they're Jose's little pals. They do everything together, they may even paint each other's nails. It's weird, like the 3 Musketeers...or maybe more like the 3 Stooges, because Jose's such an idiot..." Tony paused his ramble for a second after seeing Gibbs' glare.

"Anyways, those 2 are only loyal to Jose, and of course Jose told them to follow him everywhere. It didn't matter what their orders were, they were gonna stick with their friend. We would have been able to handle them though, if that other weasel...Campbell, right? If Campbell had listened to _my _signal to stand down." he finished roughly, anger flashing in his eyes.

"Campbell's off the team. He'll be lucky to clean bathrooms in the Hoover Building when I'm done with him," Gibbs said, hoping the placate the Detective. Anger and passion were good, but he didn't want it blinding the kid. "Let's get back to the case."

"Right," Tony began. "I know a few places Vincente would go, but by now I think they've figured out I'm an undercover cop. Vincente may be many things, but he's not dumb; he won't be anywhere he's taken me before. Plus, we can't just go bouncing around every one of his haunts hoping to find him. That would take weeks. We need a calculated approach. Now I was thinking..."

"Wait," interjected Blackadder. "Aren't we forgetting something? We still haven't solved the mystery surrounding Petty Officer Morrow. I mean, we know who killed him, but we don't know why he was there. I still feel like we're obligated find that out."

"I think we're more obligated to put his killer behind bars," Tony countered.

"Yes, but we are NCIS, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and we should also be investigating Petty Officer Morrow and the actions that led up to his death. I mean, what about the fact that he sold his car...and the money. Campbell never figured out where that went."

"I think we have more pressing concerns," Tony pressed on. The longer they took, the longer Vincente had to get away.

"He's right, Blackadder." Gibbs said, finally entering the conversation. "Me and DiNozzo will concentrate our efforts on bringing Vincente and Jose in. You can stay here and figure out Morrow's motivations for entering the warehouse."

"That is _not_ what I had in mind," Blackadder protested.

"Was there something in my tone that suggested this was a debate?" Gibbs asked, annoyed. "Oh, and find out where Alex Morrow is; I'm sure he can help you find a few answers."

Blackadder gave one last annoyed huff before bunkering down at her desk and getting to work.

Gibbs walked over to DiNozzo's desk. "Got any ideas of where to start, Detective?"

"Tough to say. I mean, Vincente shared almost _everything_ with me, so I doubt there's a lot of places he'd go that I'm unaware of. But maybe..." he stopped, deep in thought before jumping up.

"I've got it! Well, I don't know where they are, but I know someone who might know!"

"Well spit it out, DiNozzo!" Gibbs snapped.

"Patience is a virtue, Agent Gibbs," Tony smiled, looking around the bullpen. "Oh come on! Anyone? It's from _The Mummy_! You know, Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz? What do you do in your free time?"

"He builds a boat in his basement." Blackadder supplied from across the bullpen.

At this, Tony let out a huge laugh, "I knew you Feds had a sense of humor! I've just been waiting..." he stopped, registering the looks on their faces. "You're serious. Oh, well uh, I hear boat-building is a very satisfying hobby, in fact, my uncle may have dabbled in it, in between raising his carrier pigeons...shutting up now." he finished, realizing he had stuck his foot in his mouth yet again.

The bullpen was silent for a few seconds as Gibbs refused to throw Tony a lifeline and change the subject. Finally Tony spoke again.

"Um, as I was saying...if I give you guys a number, can you trace a phone?"

"Abby can." Gibbs said, heading towards the elevator.

"Who's Abby?" Tony asked, running off after Gibbs.

Blackadder just smiled; she wondered how Abby would take to the new Detective.

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Abby was hard at work in her lab, processing evidence from the raid and listening to Android Lust's new CD. She didn't even notice when Agent Gibbs entered the room, or the fact that he had brought a guest.

Gibbs tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention and she spun around with a huge smile on her face, excited to great the Team Leader. The smile quickly vanished when she saw the man behind him. When Viv had called earlier to tell her about all the evidence they would be sending down, she had mentioned something about a Detective coming to work with Gibbs. At the time, she had assumed it was Detective Cook, not this guy.

The young Detective in front of her was good-looking, but in the worst way. _He's perfect and he knows it,_ she thought, observing his confident posture. His suit was much too expensive for her taste as well. She didn't like the way his green eyes sparkled at her, or the 100-Watt smile that lit up his face. Sure, he was nice to look at, but he was probably a slimeball. She'd seen his type before. All confident that he could have any woman he wanted, trying too hard to impress by bragging of accomplishments and everything. How could Gibbs bring this guy to _her _lab?

"Abs, this is Detective DiNozzo of the Baltimore PD. DiNozzo, this is Abby Sciuto, our forensic scientist."

"What do you need?" she asked curtly, giving Gibbs a look that she hoped clearly conveyed her distrust of the young man before her.

Tony responded first. "Sweet lab! My buddy back at the station would kill for all this high-tech stuff," he said, nosing around the lab.

"Don't touch!" Abby snapped, moving quickly in front of him, summoning her best Gibbs glare.

"Okay, okay, hands off the machiny-things." he said, smiling at the goth. Abby was definitely not what he'd expected. He'd walked in expecting to see some mousy lab rat and been surprised to find the strikingly beautiful woman dressed in all black. She wasn't his type, but she was still very pretty.

"Did you guys just come down here to mess with my machines, 'cause I don't have time right now. Major mass spec is already overwhelmed and my babies haven't been dinging lately."

Tony didn't quite know what to make from that statement, and the confused look on his face betrayed him to the forensic scientist.

"What? I can name my machines?" she said fiercely.

"Oh, no. I get it." Tony said, still smiling. "It's cool, I named my car..." His eyes traveled further around the room to the curious artwork on Abby's wall. It was a strange and gory looking mass of pink and red. "Digging the artwork...What's this one supposed to be?" he asked.

"You tell me." Abby challenged.

"All right..." he said, putting a little thought into it, "I've narrowed it down to 2 possibilities: An epic battle of man vs. woodchipper, woodchipper being the obvious victor of course, or a close up of the internal bleeding and bruising of a ruptured spleen, most likely caused by finding yourself on the wrong end of Gibbs' driving."

Abby looked him over once again; she certainly hadn't expected that answer. She had to give him points for creativity. She finally responded, "The second was closer. It's actually a cross-section of the tumor taken out of my cousin's large intestine. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Interesting," Tony said, a little weirded out, but at the same time, enjoying the company of the quirky forensic scientist.

"So, what can I do for you Detective DiNozzo?" Abby finally said. Maybe she had misread this Tony character. He didn't act all stuck up and they seemed to share a similar sense of humor. He wasn't Burley, but he was growing on her. He actually seemed like an okay guy, and he _was_ pretty easy on the eyes.

"I need you to trace a cell phone. Please." he added, smiling at her.

"Ok, I just need the number," she said, readying herself at the computer.

"Whose number, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, finally deciding to speak.

"Whoa, Bossman! I almost forgot you were there!" Abby exclaimed. She turned to Tony. "Bossman is a man of few words, but the worst is when he gets all super quiet and sneaks up on you. I'm still working on finding out how he does that...he still won't let me test his blood, which any investigator will tell you is a sure sign he's hiding something. I mean, if he had nothing to hide, wouldn't he just let me take the sample?"

"Abs," Gibbs interjected.

"You know, Agent Gibbs, she has a point. If you really had nothing to hide..." he was cut off momentarily by Gibbs' glare, but he bravely started again. "Wow, anyone ever tell you you could turn people to stone with that glare? I don't think that's normal-have you tested him for that yet, Miss Scuito?" he joked.

"It's Abby," she said with a small smile. Okay, maybe she had been completely wrong about this guy.

"Tony," he said with the same smile. She could see now that it was genuine.

"Hey! The case!" Gibbs interrupted.

"Right, the number. About 2 weeks into the assignment, I started noticing Vincente would disappear every Wednesday night. When I got higher up into the organization, I asked him about it and he told me he had a dime piece waiting for him every Wednesday. At first I thought it was some secret girlfriend, but now I figure she's just an escort. Anyways, when he's with her, it's one of the few times I'm not with him...chances are, he's taken her to a few places I've never heard of before."

"Gotta name?" Gibbs asked.

"Well, a first one...Layla. Her number is 555-3110." As Abby entered it in, he said, "I swiped Padilla's phone some time ago and transferred his information. Did a little process of elimination and figured out who she was."

_That was nice work,_ Gibbs thought to himself. But there was no way he'd tell the cocky, young detective that...it would be the last thing he needed. Just then, Abby's computer dinged.

"I got it!" She said. "Phone is registered to a Layla Conklin. Here's the address." she said, reading it off to Gibbs. "So what's this case you're working?"

"Same one as before, Abs. Padilla and his son got away, we've gotta find them."

"Oooh, wait…DiNozzo?" she said, looking up at Tony again, this time scrutinizing his features closely. "You're the guy from the tapes...the undercover cop, aren't you?"

"At your service," he said, bowing a little.

"Wow. Nice job on the other raid...you totally took that guy down."

"Thanks..." Tony said, but Gibbs interrupted.

"You two done bonding? 'Cause we got 2 drug lords to catch!"

"Uh right, coming Gibbs. It was a pleasure meeting you Abby."

"Bye guys!"Abby said, smiling after them. This DiNozzo guy might be okay.

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The car ride to the small apartment sufficiently cleared Tony's stomach of the greasy cheeseburger he'd managed to shove down his throat for lunch.

"Seriously Gibbs, if a cross-section of my decimated spleen is the next piece of art to go up on Abby's wall, I'll haunt your ass for all eternity."

"Relax, DiNozzo, I wasn't gonna crash."

"I think the driver of the van back there that you almost T-boned would have a different opinion on that."

Gibbs ignored him and knocked on the door. A few seconds later, the door was opened cautiously by a beautiful blond woman.

"Layla Conklin?" Gibbs asked.

"Who wants to know?" she said, eyeing the men suspiciously.

Tony stepped forward, "Ms. Conklin, I'm Detective Anthony DiNozzo of the Baltimore BD and this is my esteemed colleague and sidekick, Very Special Agent LJ Gibbs. But you may call me Tony." he said, putting on a huge smile, his suave voice practically oozing charm.

Gibbs wanted to slap him over the head, but he waited as he noticed that Layla was taking a liking to the smooth-talking cop.

"We just have a few questions about your friend, Vincente Padilla."

At this, Layla clammed up. It was obvious she knew him, but she seemed afraid to divulge anymore information.

"What about him?" she asked nervously.

"Oh, it's nothing much," Tony continued disarmingly. "We just need to know where you two would meet every Wednesday. It's very important."

At first, Layla hesitated, but she seemed to trust Tony, so she answered. "Vincente was one of my frequent...visitors. We always met at the same spot...at a nice cabin, about 30 minutes from here."

"Do you have an address?" Tony asked, making eye contact with the nervous woman.

"I-I..." she paused, obviously uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was taking.

"Layla," Tony said, "We don't care about your profession. We just need to know where. This is very important."

"Yes," she said finally. "I have the address."

As she wrote the address down on a small slip of paper, Gibbs couldn't help but marvel at the ease in which Tony dealt with the interview. He adapted his personality to fit the situation, and although sometimes his methods seemed a bit unorthodox-flirting with persons of interest was usually frowned upon-he got results. And Gibbs didn't care about pretty, as long as he was effective.

"Thank you very much," he heard DiNozzo say, giving their source one last smile before leaving her residence. He then turned to Gibbs. "You know, as much as I admire your silent technique, I've found that most witnesses are more forthcoming when you actually verbally communicate with them." he observed.

"Looked like you were doin' fine by yourself." Gibbs commented

"Was that a compliment I just heard?" Tony said with mocked surprise. "I don't believe it! Wait," he said, pulling out his cell phone. "I gotta record this...Will you say it again? Then I can put it as your ringtone and I'll always know it's you calling..."

_SMACK._ Tony let out a little whimper as Gibbs again smacked the back of his head.

"You know, if you keep doing that, I'm gonna end up with brain damage."

"Oh, is that the excuse you use, DiNozzo?"

"Hey! I'll have you know, if you return me to the BPD as damaged goods, Cookie's gonna have your head. Not that it'll matter much anymore..." Tony stopped. _Why had he just let that slip out? Gibbs didn't need to know his plans to leave_.

At that last statement, Gibbs looked up at the Detective, but his expression showed no emotion. _What the hell had that meant?_ Gibbs thought. But he didn't say anything. He was a man of few words and he could count the number of times he'd talked about _feelings_ on one hand. That probably explained the 3 wives. Plus, DiNozzo was just on loan, he wasn't one of his agents and it wasn't any of his business. _So why did it feel like it was?_

**I hope you enjoyed. I know that the artwork scene is sort of based on the JAG/NCIS episode Ice Queen. I always loved that scene and in it Tony asks if she is "redecorating" so I figured she could have had different art up before. Also, I wanted her to warm up to Tony pretty fast because I absolutely love their relationship on the show. Thanks so much for reading and please review!**

**Peas,**

**Stephanie**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Wow! What an amazing response to the last chapter! I can't thank you all enough for your amazing reviews…you helped me beat my goal by 10 reviews, just awesome! So thank you so much and please continue to review, they really make my day. Also, I want to thank my new beta-reader, TechnoMistress, who has helped me so much with this chapter. She pointed out so many things that I missed and was so helpful in bettering this chapter, so THANK YOU! Finally, I hope you enjoy, and please keep the reviews coming =) I don't own NCIS.**

**Chapter 6**

The address belonged to a small cabin about 30 minutes from the Navy Yard. It was in a secluded and wooded area, perfect for someone who didn't wish to be disturbed, or found.

"This could be the place," Tony commented as he exited the car, this time with his equilibrium intact, having gotten used to Gibbs' driving.

"Let's hope so," Gibbs grunted. He wanted to catch these bastards as soon as possible.

"Should we wait for backup?" Tony asked, getting out his phone to make the call.

"Nope. This ends now; if we wait longer and they're not here we'll have wasted valuable time."

"And I know how much you hate wasting time," DiNozzo said wryly, taking out his gun. He quickly called for backup on the radio just in case, and then nodded at Gibbs.

They approached the cabin silently, taking in the stillness that surrounded the area. At Gibbs' signal Tony powerfully kicked down the front door, entering in a crouch with his SIG trained on the ground. He glanced around the small room before moving in, Gibbs right behind him. He moved into the next room. "Clear!" he stated, holstering his weapon; he pulled out his phone and called off their backup, seeing that this could be handled by just two investigators.

The cabin was furnished nicely, but was obviously empty at the moment. The investigators made quick work of the place, Tony covering the back while Gibbs inspected the front.

"Gibbs!" The lead agent heard his name called from the back room. Standing up, he made his way over to the Detective, who was squatting down in the back corner of the room examining the floor.

"What've you got, DiNozzo?" he asked, approaching the spot in question.

"I don't know, but it looks like this tile is loose," he said, probing the area with his fingers, trying to see if it would give. After a few more tries he looked up, only to be startled by the knife being held alarmingly close to his face.

He almost jumped out of his skin. "Jesus Gibbs! You're making me have flashbacks to one of those B-rated slasher movies! Do you have to do that?"

"Rule 9-always carry a knife," Gibbs said, moving down to crouch next to Tony.

Tony looked at Gibbs strangely, but held back his smartass retort when he saw Gibbs remove the tile, instead reverting to his movie references.

"A secret compartment! Oooh, I can think of at least a dozen movies right now-"

"DiNozzo, can it with the movie references!" Gibbs snapped.

"Sorry-I mean, um...damn, just broke that apologies rule again. What's with these rules anyways? They teach you those in the Marine Corps?

Gibbs didn't reply as he was busy studying the contents of the hole in the floor. There were a few documents, and a fake passport, but nothing too revealing.

"So this is where Vincente probably kept his stash of fake ID's and stuff," Tony finally said as he took out an evidence bag.

"Not much in here," commented Gibbs.

"Maybe Vincente was already here and he cleaned most of it out. That'd explain why it was easy for me to find. Once I removed the nightstand it stuck out like a sore thumb."

Gibbs nodded, "We missed them," he said heavily. "Any idea where they'd go next, DiNozzo?"

"Gibbs, they could be anywhere by now. Vincente has unlimited contacts and resources. If he doesn't want to be found, he won't be."

"Oh, we'll find them," Gibbs said, determination echoing in his tone. "Let's get back to the Navy Yard...maybe Blackadder's found something."

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Blackadder looked up as the elevator doors pinged and her boss stepped out, Detective DiNozzo right behind him.

"Tell me you've got something, Blackadder," Gibbs said brusquely.

_Obviously they found nothing,_ she thought. "We might have a little something," she started.

"Might? Either you do or you don't."

God, sometimes she hated her job. Her boss was downright intimidating on a good day, and this case had made him even more intense. She didn't like the small smirk that DiNozzo wore on his face either. _I think he finds Gibbs' mood amusing!_ she thought furiously. "It's ah-something, Boss. But a _little_ something."

"You gonna spit it out, Blackadder? We're not getting any younger here." Gibbs ground out, frustrated with her waffling.

_A 'please' would be nice,_ she thought. But there was no way she'd ever say that to Gibbs. "Well, we searched Morrow's house and found nothing to indicate he had anything to do with the drug ring. He lives a totally normal life. Abby sent up the bloodwork and there was no trace of drugs in him. I don't know, Gibbs, the evidence shows he wasn't involved."

"What about the money?" Gibbs continued.

"No sign of it anywhere..."

"Money doesn't just disappear, Blackadder! Find it!"

"Wait," Tony said, thinking hard. "You said Petty Officer Morrow very recently sold his car...just out of the blue?"

"Yeah, just a few days before he was murdered," Blackadder replied.

"Can you pull up his cell phone records?" Tony asked.

"Um, yeah, just give me a sec," Blackadder said as she started typing away on her computer.

"Something on your mind, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

"Maybe. I have a theory about Petty Officer Morrow's involvement. You see, Alex was way behind on a few shipments and Vincente does not take kindly to slackers. He owed Padilla money, and as you saw from the security tapes, his life was in danger. What if Alex figured he was in too deep and tried to ask his brother for help—"

"And so Christopher Morrow does the only thing he can think to do, he sells his car and gets the money to pay off his little bro's debts," Blackadder jumped in.

"Exactly!" Tony said, grinning triumphantly at Blackadder. "They could've been in contact and arranged a meeting at the warehouse on the day of the murder. But by that time, Alex was long gone. Christopher must have cabbed to the warehouse and started snooping around when his brother didn't show. That's probably when Jose got hold of him!"

"And look at this!" Blackadder continued their theorizing excitedly. "There was a call placed from Alex's cell to Petty Officer Morrow's cell 4 days before the murder, and one day before Christopher Morrow sold his car."

"That's gotta be it! I'd bet anything that that's the reason Morrow was there and that we can't find his car!" Tony finally finished.

"Are you two done?" Gibbs asked, sounding frustrated. In truth, he was impressed with DiNozzo's ability to piece together a very plausible theory from very little evidence. However, he'd be damned if he let the cocky detective know it. Anyway, it was still just a theory, and they couldn't get too carried away until they had more concrete evidence. But at least everything was starting to take shape - now they just had to find Vincente and Jose.

"Aww Gibbs, I'm hurt!" Tony said, putting on an exaggerated pout. "That was golden. It's just like a movie..."

"Hey! It doesn't matter if it's just like a movie; we need proof. And this isn't getting us anywhere. We still have nothing on Vincente and Jose. Unless you've got a theory about that too."

"Nope. No theory on that. But I _do_ have a theory about the secret for McDonald's special sauce. Now, I'm not a betting man, but-"

_SMACK!_ For the third time in a day, Gibbs found himself cuffing the younger man on the back of the head. Only Abby had a shorter attention span than the young detective.

"You know, at this point, I'm considering wearing a helmet when I'm around you, Gibbs," Tony cracked, eliciting no reaction from Gibbs. "Okay, okay," he continued, seeing that Gibbs was in no mood to joke. "I don't have a theory, but I do have a plan."

"I'm listening," Gibbs said testily.

"If we can't find Vincente and Jose, why don't we get them to come to us? At this point I'm pretty sure Vincente hates me and if there's one thing that guy likes, it's revenge."

"So you're suggesting we set them up?" Blackadder asked.

"Yep. With me as bait."

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"No. Absolutely not." Cook's voice was calm, but Tony could hear the underlying anxiety in his partner's voice.

"But Cookie, come on...we can get them!" Tony pressed, unable to understand his partner's concerns.

"Tony. Of all the convoluted, self-sacrificing, reckless, and stupid plans you've come up with, this is by far the worst!"

"Oh come on. You said nothing'd ever beat the time I signed out AMA and followed you to a crime scene and took a bullet for you..."

"Yeah, well DiNozzo, you're just full of surprises, aren't you?" Cook said, his voice heavily laced with sarcasm.

The two detectives had been on the phone for over 10 minutes now, as DiNozzo tried to explain his plan to his partner. Tony had already explained the plan to Gibbs and, to be truthful, Gibbs wasn't sure what to think. It wasn't a feeling he was used to - uncertainty - but somehow DiNozzo had been able to instill it in him. The kid was different, that was for sure. He would whine and gripe about his stomach after riding with Gibbs, but putting himself out there, unarmed, as bait for two sadistic drug lords, that was just fine with him.

At first, Gibbs had outright forbid DiNozzo's suicidal plan, but DiNozzo had made a few convincing arguments. Not that Gibbs had listened to him. In the end, however, Gibbs' need for justice had overpowered his brain, which was telling him that there was no way this would work. His gut was telling him that this was their only option, that there was no way they would find Vincente and Jose unless they did something drastic. And now here he was, listening to Detective DiNozzo try to convince his partner to let him embark on a suicide mission.

In reality, they didn't need Cook's permission to go ahead with their plan. He had been kicked off the case and really had no say in the matter. However, for this to go smoothly Gibbs knew he had to let the BPD in on his plans, and he'd be damned if he would deal with anyone other than Detective Cook. He'd come to respect the cop, and he didn't trust anyone else in the department to not fuck up the mission...except DiNozzo, of course.

He turned his attention back to the conversation. DiNozzo had lowered his voice some, but Gibbs could still make out what he was saying.

"I'm not trying to make this the last case of my life, Cookie! I'm trying to catch these SOBs. I don't have a death wish!"

"Could've fooled me, Tony. I swear, if you die on our last case together..." Cook said, before immediately regretting it. _Why the hell was he bringing this up now?_

He had known for a while that Tony was growing tired of the BPD, and just before this last undercover assignment, Tony had confided in him that he was planning on leaving soon, most likely after he returned. At the time, Aaron had not thought too much of it, hoping that his partner would change his mind if the assignment went well, even when the logical part of his brain told him it would never happen. But throughout the case, during his short-lived contacts with Tony, he had seen that the assignment had been hard on him, and that DiNozzo was not going to change his mind. And now here he was, bringing it up when it was clearly not the time. He was at least thankful when Tony expertly dodged his unintended foray into their personal life with a quick joke.

"Technically, we're not _together_, Cookie. 'Member? You kinda got thrown off the case."

"Not the point, Tony! We've worked together on this for 2 months! Promise me you'll be careful." He said, even though he knew it was futile. DiNozzo was a trouble magnet; 'careful' was not a word in his vocabulary.

"Aren't I always?"

"DiNozzo!"

"Right. No dying on our last case together."

"Exactly. And DiNozzo? That's an order."

"Yessir!" Tony said with a smile.

"Hey Tony, now will you put me on the phone with Special Agent Gibbs? I'm sure he's lurking around there somewhere." Cook asked, wanting to warn the lead agent in advance of Tony's tendency to find trouble.

As if he had heard the whole conversation Gibbs held his hand out for Tony's cell, taking it quickly before walking out of earshot.

"Detective Cook," he greeted.

"Agent Gibbs. How's the investigation coming?"

"Not fast enough. I assume DiNozzo's explained the plan?"

"Yeah, and I don't like it. Look, Gibbs, I know the kid can be annoying. Hell, I worked alongside him for the last two years and I'm surprised I haven't maimed him yet. But that's not the point. He's a great investigator, but he hides behind his mask and keeps everyone away. He comes off as an ass sometimes, but he's a great kid, and I'll be damned if I let something happen to him while he's on loan to NCIS."

"Relax, Detective. I've got his six." Gibbs said.

"You'd better, 'cause if anything happens to him it's you I'm coming after, but not before I kill those Padilla guys."

"Wouldn't have it any other way, Detective. DiNozzo's-a good kid, like you said. He's a capable investigator, and I won't let anything happen to him."

"Well, good. I'm glad that's settled. You need me to do anything on my end?"

"Yeah, we're gonna need some backup. Just one or two officers to watch Tony's back while the rest of this goes down. We're changing the rules a little, no matter how much DiNozzo protests. There's no way I'm leaving DiNozzo out in the open; he'll be in another location, miles away."

"I like your thinking, Gibbs. DiNozzo's gonna be pissed, though," Cook warned, though now relieved that his partner would be nowhere near the possible danger.

"Yeah, pissed, but alive."

"So how're you gonna get Jose and Vincente to go to the wrong location?"

"According to the FBI, Vincente's been placing feelers out and talking to a few of his contacts, trying to locate DiNozzo. They'll make sure he gets fed the right information." Gibbs explained.

"Sounds like you've got this covered, Gibbs. I trust you. And don't listen to DiNozzo when he throws a hissy fit about the new plan."

"I don't intend to," Gibbs said.

The line went dead, and Detective Cook realized that Agent Gibbs had hung up. He smiled, having expected as much from the gruff agent. He turned around in his chair and almost jumped out of his seat as he was met with the face of Officer Anderson, disturbingly close to his left ear.

"Anderson! What are you doing? You scared the hell outta me!"

"Sorry sir," he said quickly, standing at attention. "I was just putting my report on your desk, sir."

"It's all right, Anderson. I'm just a little jumpy." He looked at the young man. He seemed like a nice kid; he'd transferred to Baltimore from Boston a month ago. Aaron had only worked with him a couple of times before, while DiNozzo was undercover, but he'd been impressed with his work ethic. He'd make a good detective one day. Then he had an idea.

"Anderson. How would you like to help me out on a case?"

"Oh, I'd love to, Detective Cook. What do you need?"

"I'm not sure on the exact details yet, but you'd be a part of a two-man protection detail in an FBI safehouse."

"A protection detail? For whom?"

"Detective DiNozzo." He paused a little at the odd expression on the kid's face, but then remembered that he was pretty new. He'd never met DiNozzo and probably had never known about him because of Chief Tillman's obsession with 'need to know.' He continued, "Detective DiNozzo is my partner. He's been undercover for a while. The case is coming to a close and we have a plan to draw the perps out. We just need you to stay with DiNozzo in case anything goes wrong. I seriously doubt it though, it's just a precaution."

"But a necessary one. I understand, sir. I would be honored to help you out."

"Great, thank you, Officer Anderson. I will fill you in on your exact location later today." Cook finished. He figured this would be perfect work for the young man. An important assignment, and yet one that would probably never turn dangerous. He turned back to his desk and got back to choosing the second officer.

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Meanwhile, Agent Gibbs was busy putting their plan in action. Research on Padilla had yielded some interesting results. It seemed he had been implicated in the elimination of dozens of witnesses, but never charged. He was definitely the type of man that would follow their bait-bait in the form of Detective DiNozzo. He knew they had to make this look convincing. Vincente would be too smart to fall for them just leaving DiNozzo alone in a random location. They had decided to use an FBI safe house so that the situation would closely mirror Padilla's other murders. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a familiar number.

"Tobias, I need a favor..."

**Yes, I had to bring Fornell in; I just love the character. I hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading!**

**Peas,**

**Stephanie**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Thank you all for reading and leaving me amazing reviews! You guys are so awesome! Here's Chapter 7, I hope you enjoy. Chapter 8 is being beta read right now, and I'm working on Chapter 9. Just wanted to let you all know that if Chapter 8 doesn't come for a week, I'm so sorry. I'm moving into college this whole weekend (starting Thursday really) and they keep you really busy the whole "Welcome Week". Also, I'm in between laptops right now, but everything *should* work out fine and Chapter 8 should be up in a week. I'm sorry that's a bit of a wait, but it's out of my hands. Fortunately, after that, every other update should be under a week. Thanks so much and please read and review! I don't own NCIS.**

**Also, I would like to thank my amazing beta-reader, TechnoMistress, who made Chapter 7 so much better and is an awesome sounding board for my ideas. I honestly don't know how I wrote part of this story without a beta-reader, so Thank You! **

**Chapter 7**

Detective DiNozzo looked up from his desk as the elevator pinged to reveal yet another suit; yet what surprised him was that he recognized the man.

"Well DiNutzo, when you turned down that position at the FBI I figured it was 'cause of some aversion to the Feds, but here you are, working at NCIS of all places." Fornell said as he approached the bullpen, a little bewildered at Tony's presence. The last time he had worked with Tony, the young detective had been distrustful at best of everyone on the Federal Government's payroll; the kid certainly hadn't enjoyed working with his team of agents. When Jethro had called asking for help in a joint case with the BPD, he certainly hadn't expected to see DiNutzo working side by side with NCIS.

"Ya know what, Fornell? I was about to turn NCIS's offer down but then I saw Agent Gibbs here. There's something about that silver hair and baby blue eyes that just did me in." Tony smirked at the FBI Agent.

Gibbs looked up. "Can it, DiNozzo."

"Hey, you're not my boss!" He turned to Fornell again. "I'm only on loan to NCIS, which explains why I'm here. Now why are you here?"

"Gibbs called, needed a favor. Turns out I owe him one. Just didn't know this would involve you."

Tony's eyes widened, "Wait, you said you were calling a friend to get us a safehouse..." he said, looking at Gibbs.

"I did." Gibbs replied simply.

"Ha! And I was under the impression that Fornell here didn't have any friends. Actually, in hindsight, you two are perfect for each other..."

"You done, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked threateningly.

"Uh right. Sorry." He turned back to Fornell. This was getting a little uncomfortable-he was surrounded by bastards. "Have you been briefed?"

"I know enough. We just have to discuss this plan of yours."

"Right. Well, we'll just need one safehouse. I'll be in it - you can surround me with a few of your FBI stooges to make it look all believable. We'll 'accidentally' give out intel to a few of Padilla's contacts as to the nature of my location. Then we sit and wait until they try to kill me and BAM! I go all James Bond and we take 'em down."

"Really? 'Cause that's not what Jethro said..."

Tony looked at the Feds quizzically. "And what exactly did 'Jethro' say?" he asked, standing up now.

"There's been a little change in the plan, DiNozzo." Gibbs stepped in.

"A change? What kind of change? Look guys, the only way we're gonna get Padilla is if you use me as bait - it doesn't matter if you like it or not."

"DiNozzo. We'll get Padilla-" Gibbs tried again, trying to placate Tony.

"No, no you won't get Padilla! Not if you play it safe. I'm fucking sick and tired of all the screw ups on this case, on _my _case. And what the hell gives you the right to change the plan? I've been working this for 2 months. 2 months I've had my life taken away from me, just to take down these bastards! Now is not the time to get all papa bear protective, Agent Gibbs!" Tony had moved dangerously close to Gibbs, their noses almost touching. He glared at Gibbs, daring him to contradict him.

Next to the pair, Fornell was impressed; he'd known this kid had balls, but he'd never expected this. He decided to step in before blood started flowing. "Oh, we're still using you as bait, DiNutzo, it just won't really be you."

"Ok Toby, how much have you been drinking?" Tony asked, turning toward the FBI agent, his voice sounding almost hysterical. He had tried to change his manner back to his usual 'goofy persona' but anger still swam in his eyes. "Look, if it's any consolation, I didn't turn down the FBI job just because of you, although you _were _a pretty big part of the reason-"

"Hey! DiNozzo! Focus!" Gibbs snapped. Maybe bringing in Fornell hadn't been his best idea. "Let us explain the plan."

DiNozzo glared at Gibbs, but sat back down. He wasn't happy that the two Feds had gone behind his back and changed the plan. This was _his_ case, and therefore _his_ op, he felt he should be able to have a say in all the decisions.

"It's essentially the same plan you had," Fornell said. "I've already reached out to a few contacts who also happen to be some of Padilla's favorite informants. At this point, or at least very soon from now, Padilla will be fed information on your whereabouts."

"And what exactly are you telling him?" Tony said, seemingly calm but still very pissed.

"That the FBI was concerned for the well-being of a certain undercover Detective, whose cover has been blown, and is transporting him to safehouse seven until everything is sorted out and the drug lords are caught."

"Except you won't be in safehouse seven," Gibbs interjected.

"Guys, seriously. Do you think Padilla is really dumb enough to fall for that? He's got contacts you don't even know about. He has tons of friends in high places-he probably even has eyes and ears in the FBI. If we do that, he'll see right through us-he'll know about our trap immediately."

"We know, DiNozzo. We've got it covered," Gibbs said.

"I'm not blind, DiNutzo. And I'm certainly not stupid." He ignored the look that DiNozzo gave him. "The only people that will know your true location, or even that you aren't in safehouse seven will be me, Gibbs, my partner, Agent Blackadder, and a few cops from your own department."

"Oh really? And how're you gonna manage that?"

"Normal protocol for protecting witnesses in safehouses is to have two agents on the witness. That will be me and my partner, Agent Ramirez. We'll drive up to the safehouse and stay there to keep up appearances. There's no way to spy on the safehouse without being seen, so Padilla won't be able to see that you didn't enter the safehouse. Gibbs and Blackadder will be stationed in a car, just off the road, about 2 miles from our location. They will serve as our backup."

"Well that's all fine and dandy, Fornell, but where do I come in?" Tony asked heatedly.

"You don't." Gibbs said.

"Oh, so I'm just gonna sit here in the Navy Yard and let you guys finish my op for me? I don't think so."

"Nope. You'll still be in a safehouse, just not safehouse seven. We gotta keep up appearances-it'd look a little suspicious if we claimed you were in witness protection and yet you were just hanging around the Navy Yard." Gibbs said. Tony gaped at him. Not only did he hate this new plan, but Gibbs had just said more than 10 words at once.

"But don't worry, DiNutzo. We've contacted the BPD and they're sending down two uniforms to make sure you're safe."

"Not that I'm not touched by your concern for my safety, but something tells me the uniforms are there to keep me in more than to keep Padilla out."

"Perceptive, DiNozzo. I can see why you offered him a job, Tobias."

Tony was seething now. These Feds had not only stepped in and taken his investigation, but now they were forcing him to stay away from the closing of the case. He'd given two months of his life to take down these two drug kingpins and now, when the moment came to take them down, he was being held under lock and key-literally.

"So let me get this straight. While I'm sitting on my ass in some safehouse hours away, you guys will be closing my biggest case? And how is this any safer than my original plan? Now it's just you guys acting as bait."

"Don't worry, DiNutzo, it's only an hour away." Fornell teased.

Just as Tony was about to blow up at the FBI Agent, Gibbs stepped in. "DiNozzo – Tony – this is the way it has to be. This is a better way."

Fornell finished for him, "Ramirez and I won't be sitting ducks like you would've been. We're taking up hidden and defensive positions so we'll be ready to ambush Padilla. When Vincente and Jose arrive, Blackadder and Gibbs will back us up and we'll take them down."

"And I can't be a part of this because?"

"Because Padilla is after you, and only you. You can't be running around with a target on your back. Plus, technically Ducky hasn't medically cleared you," Gibbs said, pointing to Tony's bandaged bicep.

"That's low, Gibbs! I was out in the field earlier!" Gibbs didn't respond, and realization dawned on Tony. "Cookie put you up to this! Did he feed you some bull about me being reckless or something?"

"Something like that," Gibbs said. "But the idea was mine - your partner just happened to agree completely with it."

As Tony fumbled about, trying to whip his cellphone out as fast as possible, Gibbs called out to him, "Make sure to tell him the plan's ready to go and that you'll be in safehouse four!"

Tony just glared as he waited for his partner to pick up.

"Detective Cook."

"Cookie! What the hell is your problem?"

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When Detective Cook finally hung up, he was mentally exhausted. He'd forgotten just how much Tony could wear him out, and a pissed-off Tony was about as bad as it could get. But it was done, and though he had thoroughly pissed off his partner, he truly felt relieved. Tony wasn't in the line of fire anymore; the Feds were dealing with it and all he had to do was brief the two officers who would be accompanying Tony.

Though he himself would've liked to be a part of the protection detail (more to protect Tony from himself than anyone else) he wasn't too disappointed that he would miss out on the attitude the two officers would have to put up with the next day-Tony would not be pleasant to be around. _Unless, of course, Tony decides to put on his mask again,_ he thought. DiNozzo was unpredictable at the best of times, but especially when something was bothering him. You never knew if you'd get annoying frat-boy Tony, or angry and peeved Tony.

He called the two officers to his desk. He'd finally decided to have Officer Edwards accompany Officer Anderson. Edwards was an experienced cop and a good man. DiNozzo had worked with him before, and his partner had actually gotten along with him, which was definitely something. He knew that tensions in the safehouse would probably be high and that DiNozzo would be on his worst behavior, so he felt a little more comfortable sending in a cop who sort of knew how to deal with his partner. When the pair approached, he led them into the conference room so he could speak to them in private.

They were first briefed on the general outline of the plan: 'accidentally' letting the intel on DiNozzo's fake location slip, and sending DiNozzo to a different safehouse where they would also be stationed.

"You will be at FBI safehouse four," he instructed. "Directions are programmed into your vehicle's GPS unit, and here's a hard copy. Familiarize yourselves with the roads, just to be thorough. You will pick DiNozzo up at the Navy Yard and go straight here. Our targets should be so focused on the FBI diversion that they won't see anything. When you arrive, do a quick sweep and get a feel for your location. This is just a formality; we don't expect anything to happen. Then just wait for Agent Gibbs' call; he will contact you as soon as the targets have been apprehended. Are we clear?"

"Yes sir!" they both said eagerly.

"Good. As I said, I'm not expecting anything to happen - your biggest problem will be keeping Detective DiNozzo in the building. Don't take any of his crap; I'm warning you, if I know DiNozzo, he'll try something."

There was a chorus of affirmatives and then Detective Cook dismissed the officers. Tomorrow this would finally be over.

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Officer Nick Anderson quickly exited the building, walking swiftly to his car as he took out his cell phone and dialed. The phone rang just once before it was picked up.

"What?" A voice answered brusquely.

"I have good news, Sir," he whispered quickly.

"What the hell took you so long? While you were dicking around, I've already figured out DiNozzo's whereabouts for myself - he'll be in an FBI safe house tomorrow. Remind me why I need you again?"

"Because, Sir...your intel is wrong!"

"Wrong? What the hell are you talking about? I've heard this information from more than one of my contacts-"

"That's the point, Sir! The FBI is trying to throw you off! DiNozzo will be in an FBI safehouse, but not the one you think."

"Why the hell should I believe you? You've been on my payroll for a month and have given me nothing!"

"Sir, I know! But now I have something! I've been assigned to DiNozzo's protection detail. It's just me and one other uniform. I can kill them both and we can get the hell outta here!"

There was silence on the other line as Vincente thought over the new situation. Finally, he responded, "Feel free to kill the other uniform, but leave DiNozzo for me. He will suffer for his betrayal."

"Uh-uh-understood, Sir."

"Good. Now where can I find him?"

"FBI safehouse four, Sir." Anderson replied shakily, rattling off the directions he had been given.

"Good. This is very good." Padilla said ominously as he received the directions. "Oh, and Anderson? If you're wrong...if you lead me to the wrong place...if one more op of mine is fucked up, I'll wring your neck!"

"Understood," Anderson said again, hoping to stay on Vincente's good side.

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The next day Agents Fornell and Ramirez set out for safehouse seven, driving their FBI-issued black SUV. They encountered no problems and promptly set up inside the safehouse. When Fornell got there, he phoned Gibbs, who had already taken up his position in a small grouping of trees, just off the road, about 2 miles from the location.

Gibbs had chosen this spot because it was impossible to see from the road, and yet he would have easy access to the road when it came time to move out. He and Blackadder were less than 2 minutes from Fornell's position, and would be able to back him up quite nicely. He trusted Fornell to hold fort while they waited for the Padillas. Now came the hard part - waiting.

"Think this is gonna work?" asked Blackadder.

Gibbs just glared. He was _not _in the mood for chatter right now. They sat in silence for a few more minutes before Blackadder started talking again.

"I bet Detective DiNozzo's going crazy right now," she said, hoping to strike up a conversation. Again she was met with silence. Still not taking the hint, she tried yet again.

"Are you worried?" she asked, looking over at the Lead Agent.

"Blackadder, shut up," Gibbs said softly but firmly, clearly finished with any conversation Blackadder had hoped to start.

In truth, Gibbs was worried, but not about the trap. He was worried for the young Detective. There was something about him - something that made him stop, and think, and maybe even _care_ - beyond simply a professional perspective of course. He actually liked the kid; he was reminded of himself as a young man, still naive, still enjoying life, not yet drowning in the emotional pain of loss.

And not only that, but right now his gut was screaming at him, and he was sure it had something to do with the kid. He knew that if it were him locked miles away while some strangers closed his biggest case he'd be going insane. Maybe that was why his gut was going crazy - he felt the kid's pain, hell, he empathizied with the young man. But as much as he identified with DiNozzo's situation, he knew this was the right course of action; so Gibbs sat back and ignored his gut, and waited for Fornell's call.

Meanwhile, Fornell and Ramirez took turns searching the perimeter for any signs of their targets. Fornell figured they would want to strike soon, hoping to catch the FBI off guard. _Like that'll happen,_ he smirked as he sat down on one of the few pieces of furniture in the small safe house. However, he was surprised - it had already been two hours and there was no sign of any of the Padillas. This made him a little uneasy as he sat there, wondering what could be taking them so long. He wished they could just put a trace on their phones to at least see when they were coming, but of course if they'd been able to do that, there would be no need for this trap.

_Maybe I pegged 'em wrong. Maybe they're more likely to wait,_ he pondered, trying to get into the minds of the drug kingpins. And if he thought _his_ wait was long, he wondered how DiNozzo must be feeling. A two-month mission made hours seem like seconds, but not when the hours ticked slowly by due to anticipation. He wished these drug lords would hurry it up already, before DiNozzo managed to trick his guards and beat them to the safehouse.

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To say that Tony was wound up would be an understatement. He'd been holed up for hours in a small safehouse and to add insult to injury he was actually being guarded by two officers, one of whom, he had decided, wasn't even old enough to grow peach fuzz. Tony's mood had shifted from angry and unapproachable, to pissed yet quietly thinking, and finally to where it stood now, joking and flatout annoying.

Tony paced about the room. He approached Officer Anderson, who was lounging in an armchair.

"This reminds me of a movie…" he began.

_N_o _shit,_ Anderson thought as he tried to paste a smile on his face for the Detective. He'd only been with him for a few hours, and he was ready to shoot him where he stood. He hoped Vincente and Jose would get there soon. A few more hours with DiNozzo bouncing around the safehouse, having mood swings left and right, and he'd have to kill him or at least knock him out.

However, Officer Edwards thankfully saved them both. _It's a shame I'll have to kill him,_ Anderson thought.

"Ah Tony, I'm pretty sure we've already heard about every movie that fits our situation."

Tony stopped for a moment, looking quizzically at the two officers. They were right, he had been going insane. Not only that, but they had somehow countered every one of his escape attempts. Edwards just would not give up the key to the car, no matter how convincing he'd been. Tony had even pondered starting a poker game and hoping he could win it off Edwards.

However, nothing had worked. He couldn't do this-he couldn't sit still for this long on a normal day, but today it was killing him.

Tony walked over to the shelves in the back of the small cabin and ripped a page out of a book. The two officers looked at him suspiciously as he carefully folded and tore the paper into a small but sturdy triangle.

"Origami?" Anderson asked, a little confused.

"Oh Anderson, how can you not recognize _this_? What did you spend your childhood doing?" he exclaimed, his face filled with mock disbelief.

"Um..."

"Gentlemen, may I present to you… the game ball!" Tony said, flourishing the little paper triangle above his head. "Edwards, get to the table - we're playing tabletop football!"

Tony quickly taught the two officers the game, and soon he and Edwards were flicking the little 'ball' back and forth across the table. While they were busy, Officer Anderson excused himself to take a call. He returned a few minutes later.

"Hey Tony, think I could give it a try?" he asked, moving to take Tony's place.

"Of course!" Tony said, moving out of the chair. "31-3!" he crowed in a sing-song voice. As Anderson and Edwards got to playing, Tony said, "Excuse me, Gents – nature calls." and walked away, leaving the two officers alone.

Tony stood in the bathroom, washing his hands and humming "It's a Small World" to himself. He wet his hair a little and tried to fix it, all the while thinking about what could be happening at safehouse seven. He didn't have much time to think, though, before he heard the sharp crack of a gunshot.

Tony had bolted out of the bathroom, ready to come to the officers' aid, when he registered that his gun wasn't on the coffee table where he had left it. He quickly took out his phone and dialed Gibbs, but before he could say anything, he felt the cold metal of the barrel of a gun pressed against the nape of his neck.

**Sorry about the ending =P I'll have an update as soon as things settle down, I promise. I hope you enjoyed and please review! **

**Peas,**

**Stephanie**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi everyone! Sorry for the long wait and the cliffy from the last chapter. This was the soonest I could get on and load this (I just got my new computer today). Thank you so much for the amazing reviews! Also, thank you to my wonderful beta-reader, Techno Mistress, who really helps me out with so much. I hope you enjoy this next part and another update should come this weekend. Happy NCIS watching tonight!**

**Chapter 8**

It had been over an hour since Blackadder's last attempt at conversation, and now a stony silence filled the vehicle. The two agents just sat there, waiting to be called in as backup. Finally, the quiet was interrupted by the ringing of Gibbs' phone.

The caller ID on the phone displayed DiNozzo's name, and Gibbs snapped the phone open. "Gibbs," he answered gruffly, expecting to hear the young detective embark on a tirade about being cooped up. Instead he was met with an eerie silence on the other end, followed by a scuffling noise that told him the phone was changing hands.

"What is it, DiNozzo?" he snapped, trying not to let any worry seep into his voice. _DiNozzo is fine. He's just messing around!_ he told himself, but the churning in his gut was telling him otherwise.

The next thing he heard confirmed his suspicions. A new voice spoke up, "I'm sorry, DiNozzo can't come to the phone right now," it said snidely, before Gibbs heard the phone click off. He didn't have to think, he already knew who it was. Tony was in big trouble.

"Padilla!" he growled, tossing the phone to Blackadder as he threw the car in gear. She looked at him strangely. "He has DiNozzo!" was his only explanation as he jolted the car back onto the road, tires screeching.

As they practically flew down the road, Gibbs continued to bark out orders. "Call Fornell, tell him we're coming to get him. You'll stay at the safehouse with Agent Ramirez in case something happens. Call for backup and an ambulance. Now!"

Blackadder numbly nodded her understanding, fumbling with the phone as she struggled to stay upright when Gibbs went flying around a corner.

Less than two minutes later Gibbs arrived at safehouse seven, the brakes of the sedan screeching and announcing their arrival. He stopped just long enough for Blackadder to leap out of the car and switch places with Fornell. Gibbs knew that Blackadder would be pissed that he'd decided to take Fornell instead, but he didn't give a damn. This investigation had already experienced too many screw ups, and Gibbs wasn't going to have another one, not while DiNozzo's life was on the line. Fornell was one of the few people he trusted with his life, and he trusted him to have DiNozzo's six too.

"What's happening, Jethro?" Fornell asked as Gibbs whipped the car back onto the road. Blackadder hadn't had time to explain much of anything to him on the phone, other than that they were coming and he should be ready.

"Got a call from DiNozzo-Padilla's got him," Gibbs answered grimly.

Fornell's eyes widened, "How the hell did that happen?"

"Well I don't know, Tobias!" Gibbs snapped. "But I do know that Tony doesn't have a lot of time, so why don't you stop just sitting there and call Abby and have her put a trace on his cell!" he ordered, his focus never leaving the road.

Next to him, Fornell dialed Abby's lab. "Miss Sciuto?" he said, once the Goth picked up.

"You're not Gibbs," she said, a little miffed.

"No, I'm not-" Fornell started, but was cut off by Abby's rambling.

"Then why are you calling from his cell phone? Oh my god! Gibbs isn't hurt is he? Please tell me he's okay, I mean, he's our rock, we can't lose him..."

"Abby!" Fornell yelled, interrupting her worried rant. "Gibbs is fine, I need you to run a trace on a cell, pronto!"

"On it, pseudo-boss!" she said, and Fornell could picture her giving a salute.

"The number is 555-7194," he said, reading DiNozzo's number off of Gibbs' phone.

"Running now!" Abby said in a sing song voice. A few seconds later, the trace honed in on a familiar location. "It's coming from safehouse four! Wait, is everything ok?"

"It's fine, Abby," Fornell said quickly before hanging up. "He's still at the safehouse, Gibbs. Or at least his phone is."

"Then that's where we're headed," Gibbs said, stomping down harder on the gas.

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"Move over there," Jose said, jabbing his gun into Tony's neck and trying to usher him towards a chair.

Jose had just hung up on Gibbs, and Tony knew he was royally screwed. In the two months he had worked for the Padillas he had come to know them quite well, and he knew from observation that Jose could be very dangerous when he was in this sort of mood. Of course he hadn't expected the Padillas to be very happy when they next saw him, although in his mind he had expected to at least be armed for that encounter.

There was, thankfully, a small silver lining to the whole situation-Gibbs knew. Of course, that wouldn't do him any good if they planned on killing him right away. Even with Gibbs' driving, the lead agent was at least 35 minutes away from his location. Tony knew this could mean only one thing - he would have to stall.

The gun jabbed painfully into his neck again as Jose tried to force him across the room so he could tie him to a chair. _Ha!_ he thought, _If he thinks I'm going that easy, he has another thing coming!_

"I said, move it!" Jose repeated, already frustrated.

"Oh, you mean me?" Tony said, trying to sound hesitant. "I'm sorry, I'd like to politely decline."

"You don't have a choice, now move!"

"Oh really? Because I'm pretty sure I do have a choice," he cocked his head, pretending to calculate something in his head. "Yep, I do! You see, you really should have thought this out better. I already know you're gonna kill me in the end, so threatening to kill me to get me to do what you want is kinda useless, don't you think? It's kinda confusing, believe me, I know," he said with an exaggerated wink. "So, in essence, you've already taken away your only bargaining chip. A little sad, isn't it?"

Tony was barely able to register any movement before the butt of Jose's gun brutally contacted his head, sending him crashing to the ground. Ignoring his pounding head, he quickly got up and baited Jose again.

"I'm sorry. In the few days we've been apart, I had forgotten just how slowly the little wheels in your head turn. I'm gonna repeat that for you, just a little slower this time, ok?" he said, as if he were talking to a toddler. "Nothing. You do. Is gonna. Make me. Do. What. You. Say. Comprende?"

Tony's head was whipped back as Jose's fist connected with his jaw, but before he could recover he felt a rather large metal object crash down on the back of his head, and everything went black.

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Gibbs was driving faster than he ever had before. Even Fornell was starting to look a little peaked, and he was used to Gibbs' driving. After one particularly close call, in which Gibbs almost rolled the car into a ditch, Fornell spoke up. "Gibbs! Dammit! If you kill us, we won't be much good to DiNutzo!"

Gibbs' only reply was to put more pressure on the gas pedal. They were still miles away, but he estimated he had cut their original arrival time in half. That still meant that DiNozzo would have to hold on for another 25 minutes. _If anyone can hold them off, DiNozzo can,_ he told himself.

He knew that DiNozzo would be able to keep any ordinary kidnapper talking for hours; he just had that magic touch. But the Padillas weren't your everyday kidnappers. They wanted to eliminate Tony, and they would be dead set on accomplishing what they came to do. He could only hope that they wanted to make him suffer first; at least it would give him time he needed. It sounded terrible that he was hoping they would torture Tony but, in truth, it was probably the only way they would find him alive. _Just hold on, DiNozzo..._

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Tony awoke to his head pounding painfully. He let out a small moan and tried to examine the sizeable lump he imagined he was now sporting on the back of his head. He didn't get very far, however, as something stopped his hand. _Rope. Wait, am I tied to a chair?_ he wondered, tugging slightly at his bonds. Yes, he was definitely tied to a chair..._but why?_

And then as if the flood gates opened, his memories came crashing back to him. The blown raid. The blown raid _again._ Gibbs. The plan. Going crazy in the safehouse. And finally, the gun...Padilla had found him._ Shit, I'm screwed._ However, he didn't have any more time to dwell on his predicament, because Vincente chose that moment to enter the room.

The drug kingpin approached Tony, his son standing behind him, but what surprised Tony was the man standing next to Jose. "Anderson?" he exclaimed, his eyes narrowing in fury. He couldn't believe it - he had been set up!

The dirty cop smiled, undoubtedly enjoying Tony's predicament after having to deal with him for the past few hours. "You cops aren't the only ones who can infiltrate an organization," he said snidely.

"Yes, well I'm glad you enjoyed your month as a beat cop, Anderson; I certainly enjoyed my time as Vincente-here's second-in-command." he turned to Vincente. "You know, it's great - I mean, I was closer to you than your own son! You would have done anything for me-"

Vincente silenced him with a solid punch to the jaw.. Tony squirmed a little, hoping Vincente would interpret it as fear instead of his real purpose for it - working at his bonds.

"You're right about one thing, Detective DiNozzo," he spat Tony's name with visible disgust. "I trusted you. I made you my second in command and you turned out to be a cop! I can't think of the words to describe you, you..."

"Scumbag?" Tony interjected, his hands still working fervently on the ropes. "Slimeball? Jerkface? Or are you looking for something more hardcore? Asshole, possibly?"

"Shut up!" Vincente snarled, his fist connecting hard with Tony's temple.

"Oh, I'm sorry, it's just that you said you couldn't quite think of what to call me. That look on your face - it was so confused and pathetic, I had to step in and help. You know that I can never resist a damsel in distress."

Another two punches were thrown at Tony's face, and Tony could feel the blood now running down his face. He was pretty sure he would have some spectacular bruises when Vincente was done with him. _Maybe Abby can put a picture of them on her wall_, he thought morbidly.

"Enough!" Vincente snapped, glaring at Tony, before reaching into his waistband and producing a rather large knife. He stalked ominously towards Tony. "You robbed me of everything, and right now, you haven't spilt enough blood for me to feel satisfied."

"Oh really? I beg to differ." Tony joked, still working at the ropes in back of him. But Vincente just moved even closer, the knife coming alarmingly close to Tony's face.

Tony chucked a little before saying, "You know, it's funny really-this is the second time my face has been within inches of a large knife in the last 24 hours. I don't know what's up, but something's gotta give."

Vincente just smiled and then the knife flashed downward in a lightning-quick motion, slashing through Tony's bicep. Tony bit his lip, not allowing a yelp to escape. The cut was not serious, but it was painful and his arm was bleeding freely now. However Tony had almost completely loosened the rope tying his hands behind his back, and given a few more minutes, he'd be completely free-not that he had any idea of how he'd take all three men out, but he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

"I'm gonna make you suffer for your betrayal." Vincente snarled, his eyes flashing with pent up fury.

"Technically, I was never loyal to you, so I'd probably I'd reconsider your word choice-"

This time the knife came down on his other arm, giving Tony matching wounds on either arm.

"Ok, fine, you can call it betrayal if you want - it's just semantics anyways." Tony grunted out, the pain starting to affect him more and more every minute. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to hold on for Gibbs, but he wasn't going to give up yet.

He let his head drop to his chest to make Vincente think he was more spent than he actually was. He continued to work on his bonds while feigning unconsciousness. To his surprise Vincente let up, moving away from him to talk to Jose and Anderson; apparently beating on Tony was only fun when he was conscious.

_This is my chance!_ Tony thought urgently. _Now...if only I could get free,_ he held back a grunt as his hands slipped on the rope. He knew he was tantalizingly close to freedom, and yet he was having trouble finishing the job, his arms starting to spasm a little from the damage Padilla had inflicted. Open wounds and free flowing blood, combined with having to play dead to escape further torture, had all complicated his quest for freedom.

_Come on Gibbs!_ he silently urged.

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Ten more minutes. That was Gibbs' estimated ETA. Ten more minutes until he could rescue DiNozzo. Ten more minutes for Padilla to torture or kill DiNozzo. Ten more minutes that DiNozzo would have to hold on. And dammit! Ten minutes was a long time.

Gibbs was worried, and pissed. No one messed with his people, even if right now 'his people' was actually property of the Baltimore PD. He didn't know why he was so worried about the young detective. He tried to convince himself that it was just his sense of justice, his need as a marine to serve and protect; but his gut told him it was more than that. His gut told him - well damn it, he didn't know what it was telling him. He didn't know why this DiNozzo kid was having this effect on him. But he did know that 10 minutes was a long time, and in 10 minutes, someone could do a lot of damage.

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Vincente looked at the bloody detective before him. He was breathing heavily, blood trickling down his arms, his face swelling grotesquely. _Not so tough now, are you, pretty boy?_ he smirked before turning to his companions.

"Hey," his son spoke up as they made their way into the adjoining room, quickly glancing out the window to make sure they didn't have company yet. "That agent, he's on his way. We've got to finish this up soon."

"Relax, son. It's only been 25 minutes. We're out in the middle of nowhere, and this safehouse is at least an hour from his original position. I have at least 20 more minutes to have fun with him, and I intend to."

"Are you sure? I just don't want anything else to happen..."

"Nothing's going to happen, Jose. However, I do see your point - we should be on the lookout. Anderson, those cops teach you how to do a perimeter sweep?"

"Yes Sir!" Anderson replied, a little resentful at being left out of most of the fun.

"Then get outside and keep on the lookout for those agents. I'd especially concentrate on the back woods-I've found the FBI to be partial to sneak attacks. Any sign of them, contact me so we can get out quickly."

With a nod, Anderson left out the front door. He made a quick sweep of the front before moving to the back woods. He would make sure he discovered anyone before they could even approach the house.

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Back in the other room, Tony was still hard at work trying to free himself. _Just one more...there! Finally!_ he held back an excited whimper as the rope that had been previously chafing his wrists finally slackened. However, he still kept it wrapped around his hands to keep up the facade; he couldn't have the Padillas finding out he was free until he was ready to act.

Just then, he heard two pairs of footsteps returning to the room. He didn't look up, instead choosing to continue to play possum. He wanted to jump up and make like Rambo, but he had to face the reality of the situation. He was weak, bloody, tired, and outnumbered - clearly the underdog - but he still had the element of surprise on his side; he just had to pick the right moment to use it.

He could feel someone moving closer to him. He debated whether to rush him now, or wait and hope for Gibbs. Suddenly a powerful hand reached out and grabbed his hair, yanking his head upward.

"Time to wake up!" Vincente growled, his rancid breath making Tony wince.

Tony figured that this was his last chance and was about to spring on the man now clutching his hair when he heard the cocking of a gun.

Jose stood behind Vincente, aiming a gun directly at Tony. It was no use-if he moved he'd be dead in a second. However, he refused to allow defeat to consume him; he'd just have to try Plan B - continue to rely on his smooth tongue and hope that Gibbs would come before his concussed brain ran out of clever responses.

Jose was smiling at him. "Not so talkative now, are you?"

"Oh trust me, I'm still talkative - it's just that I'm a little distracted, having a gun pointed at me and all. I'm sure you'll understand."

"Don't you worry, DiNozzo. Your time hasn't come quite yet. You aren't lucky enough for that."

"I concur. Just the other day, on my way out of my apartment I walked right past a black cat. And as a kid, I never could find one of those 4-leaf clovers. Did find a one-leaf clover once, but I don't think that counts-"

"Can't I just shut him up!" yelled Jose, looking furiously at his father. He aimed his gun right at Tony's head.

"Not at his forehead, son. Remember, that would be too quick," Vincente interjected.

"Oh, thank you! I've always felt that my face was one of my best features; I mean, who could resist this smile? As we all know, you certainly couldn't. I just don't think a glaring bullethole would complement my eyes," Tony said, smirking at Jose.

That last quip seemed to send Jose over the edge. In a split second, he registered the other man pulling the trigger, then suddenly his world exploded in pain and everything went black.

**Yeah, I'm sure you appreciated the ending again =P Another update coming soon...hopefully Friday, but being the first week of classes, I'm still busy so it may be sometime over the weekend. Thank you so much and please review!**

**Peas,**

**Stephanie**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey everyone...sorry this wasn't updated earlier in the weekend, but it's still the weekend, right? I'm really enjoying college, but it's a ton of work and I'm always busy. The good thing is that this story is completely finished and the last chapter is currently with my beta-reader, TechnoMistress (who, by the way, has helped me so much with this story and I can't thank her enough). So thank you all so much for your amazing feedback to the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one! **

**Chapter 9**

After what seemed like an eternity - really only about 10 minutes - Gibbs finally pulled up to the front of safehouse four. He quickly turned off the car and the two agents practically leapt out of the vehicle, drawing their weapons simultaneously.

They jogged stealthily towards the house, fervently hoping that they had made it in time. Just as they approached the front door they heard the sharp crack of a gunshot.

Not waiting any longer, Gibbs kicked down the door and entered, Fornell right behind him. "Federal Agents, drop your weapons!" he yelled, pointing his gun at Jose. Fornell did the same with Vincente. But Jose wasn't going to go down without a fight. Whether it was a reflex or just a death wishGibbs would never know, but Jose turned around and trained his gun on Gibbs. The NCIS agent didn't hesitate, double-tapping the young drug lord right in the heart.

Jose's body jerked backwards and his knees buckled under him as he crumbled to the ground. He was dead - there was no doubt about it.

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Anderson had finished scoping out the back woods and was on his way back to the house. He had just reached the tree line and was about 50 yards away from the house when he heard the first gunshot. He jumped a little, going into full alert mode before relaxing again. _Probably just Vincente finishing the job,_ he thought.

Just seconds later, a second gunshot came, once again causing Anderson to jump. He removed his weapon. There was no reason for Vincente to need a second gunshot; DiNozzo was tied up, there was no way he could miss. _Something's wrong! _he thought, terrified as he ran towards the house. As he ran around front, he saw another car._ Shit! _he thought. The Feds had entered from the front and he'd missed them! He drew his weapon and prepared to enter, hoping to catch the Feds off guard.

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Back in the safehouse, Vincente put up his hands in surrender. He had been prepared to fight, but seeing his son gunned down in front of him had changed his mind. He wasn't going to die at the hand of some Fed, not after all he had accomplished. He had friends, maybe they could get him out of this. And he couldn't forget that Anderson was still out there somewhere; maybe the kid was worth something afterall.

Fornell moved toward Vincente quickly, roughly grabbing his hands and twisting them behind his back. He read him his Miranda rights and barely able to hold back his anger - as much as he wanted to pulverise the man, he was determined that Vincente was not going to get off on a technicality, not on his watch.

As Fornell took care of Vincente, Gibbs moved to check on DiNozzo. He reached his hand out to check for a pulse, taking in the gruesome sight. The detective was tied to the chair, definitely unconscious, but as his fluttering and weak pulse indicated, still alive - at least for the moment. His arms had blood running down them from long cuts, probably made with some sort of carving knife. His old bullet wound had re-opened and a long trickle of blood oozed out. His face looked like it had been pummeled with a meat tenderizer. His jaw was one big bruise, interrupted every so often with small, yet painful gashes. His left eye was swollen shut, and his right eye didn't look any better. But the injury that terrified Gibbs the most was the source of most of the blood. His temple was still bleeding steadily, and Gibbs' heart went to his throat as he put the pieces together: the glancing wound on his temple,the gunshot - Tony had been shot in the head.

Luckily it appeared that the bullet had only grazed him, but from the amount of blood and the fact that he couldn't rouse the young detective, Gibbs knew Tony's life was in danger. He needed medical care now!

Gibbs' in-depth assessment of Tony's condition had only taken a few seconds and, after assuring himself that the young man was alive, he was ready to move into the next room. Tony wasn't the only victim here, and he could see the feet of a downed officer peeking out from the next room.

However, just as he was about to move to clear the other room, the front door flew open yet again and he spun around to find a gun pointed at his forehead.

"Don't anyone move, or I'll blow your brains out!" the man said, clicking the safety off his gun. "Now drop your weapons!" he ordered, gun still trained on Gibbs.

The gunman wore a police uniform, and Gibbs realized with disgust exactly how their plan had failed: they were dealing with a dirty cop. He was livid – this man would pay.e

Gibbs contemplated making a move but decided that at this point it was too risky. He slowly lowered his Sig, seeing Fornell do the same out of the corner of his eye.

Gibbs risked a quick glance at Tony, hoping the young man was still okay. The last thing he wanted was for the gunman to turn his attention to the incapacitated detective. He tried to surreptitiously move in between the intruder and Tony, but the man saw his move and interpreted it correctly.

"Oh no you don't," he said, smiling evilly at Gibbs and moving between Gibbs and Tony. "I want some payback for what he and his mouth have put me through the last few hours."

Inwardly, Gibbs smiled, knowing that the detective had given the dirty cop hell before they had arrived. However, he just intensified his glare at the gunman. Unphased, Anderson continued, "Now, I want you to let him go." He directed this order at Fornell. He was now facing the two agents head on, having completely turned his back to the fallen detective.

Fornell didn't move a muscle, still gripping a handcuffed Vincente tightly by the arm.

"I said, let him go!" Anderson yelled, cocking the gun at Gibbs' temple.

Gibbs was in a bind. One side of him was telling him to screw it all and try to take down the man standing in front of him. He knew this was risky, but at least he would go down fighting. However, the other part of his brain told him that Vincente was going to escape anyway. If they refused to cooperate for much longer, the dirty cop would just shoot them where they stood and take off with Vincente. If they stayed quiet and listened to the gunman, then maybe he would take them alive; afterall, if he had been dead-set on killing them, he would have done it much sooner.

However, the Marine in Gibbs couldn't stand by and let a drug lord escape, no matter what the circumstances. He would go down fighting, that much he knew, and he'd be damned if he would surrender to a dirty cop in the pocket of scum like Vincente.

A glance at Fornell told him that his long-time friend was thinking along the same lines. They knew they were trapped, but if they put up a fight maybe one would get out alive.

Not liking the calculating silence, Anderson shoved the gun deeper into Gibbs' temple. "You have 10 seconds to cooperate. If you do not release him, I'll kill you both."

Gibbs readied himself for attack, giving Fornell one last meaningful look before all of a sudden, the gunman pitched forwards with a small gasp.

He landed hard on the floor, a small knife protruding from his upper back, blood already bubbling around the wound.

Gibbs was astonished at what he saw as the dirty cop fell to the ground.

There was Detective DiNozzo, blinking hard, wavering unsteadily on his feet. "Hiya, Gibbs..." he slurred, his smile looking more like a grimace. And with that, his knees buckled and he collapsed, Gibbs grabbing him before he could crash to the floor.

"Easy there, DiNozzo. I gotcha," Gibbs said, lowering the injured man to the floor. Lazy and unfocused green eyes fought to stay open, but exhaustion and shock were taking over.

"Where's the goddamn ambulance, Fornell!" Gibbs asked furiously, wondering how the paramedics could be taking so long.

"I just radioed in, Gibbs. There was an accident on the freeway, and we're in the middle of nowhere, so the ETA is still 10 minutes." Fornell replied, shooting a concerned glance at DiNozzo. "He gonna be okay?"

"Not if the damn medics keep lollygagging!" Gibbs snapped. He was interrupted by a low moan from the fallen detective. He looked down and saw that Tony's face had taken on a ghostly pallor. "Just hang on, Tony. Hang on."

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When Tony woke up, still slouched in that goddamn chair, the first thing he registered was the pain. His head was on fire - white hot knives were stabbing his temple, making it incredibly hard for him to concentrate.

Something was happening around him. He could hear murmuring voices, gradually getting louder in his head. He blinked a few times, trying to clear his vision, trying to grasp what was going on. There were three, maybe four figures in front of him. He settled on three and a half. And a gun - the guy right in front of him had a gun. But why? The guy with the gun - he was pretty sure his name started with an A - he was jabbing it around and yelling about something. "...let him go."

Tony's eyes shifted a little, towards the two other figures. His eyes were focusing a little more now; he started matching blurred images with faces. _Was that Fornell? And Vincente? Wait, what had he missed? And why was this A guy threatening Fornell to let Vincente go?_ _Not gonna happen,_ he thought angrily.

"I said, let him go!" A-guy yelled again, recapturing Tony's attention. The gun had moved; it was now resting against Gibbs' head. _Wait, Gibbs? Why hadn't he noticed him before? _Another sharp knife of pain stabbed into his temple..._oh yeah, that might be why,_ Tony remembered. The man jabbed the gun into Gibbs' temple; Tony winced.

_I have to save them. I have to save Gibbs._ Tony thought urgently, not really grasping exactly what was happening, but knowing he had to act all the same. _Think, DiNozzo. Think!_ He closed his eyes and thought hard, racking his brain for a plan. Something kept flickering there...a_ rule...you're always supposed to do something, to have something...a knife! That was it!_

Slowly but surely, Tony freed his hands from the ropes that were still loosely hanging from his wrists. He tried to be as stealthy as possible, not wanting to alert An –wait, Anderson? Was that it? – that he was awake. Fortunately, the gunman seemed pretty occupied with threatening the two agents before him. His hands fumbled a little with his belt buckle before he finally found what he was looking for as his fingers curled around a small knife.

Now came the whole standing up part. He wasn't entirely sure how he would be able to stand upright for very long - a bullet to the skull was one of those things that screwed with your equilibrium. However, he would have to try; he just wasn't sure he'd be able to move much more before throwing up.

Just as he was gathering his legs underneath him and preparing to come to full height, Anderson's voice came yet again, making his head spin. "Ten seconds…release…kill you both…" The words were jumbled in Tony's head, but from what he had made out, Anderson's intent was clear. He had to act, there was no more time. Anderson was about to kill Gibbs and Fornell and then release Vincente. He wouldn't let that happen, not after all this. Gibbs had come to save him, and he wouldn't let him end up with a matching bullet in his temple for his troubles.

Without another thought, adrenaline took over and Tony, lurched to his feet, lunging the knife into Anderson's back with all the strength he could muster. He watched in a haze as the intruder crashed to the floor, lying limp at Gibbs' feet. As Anderson fell to the ground, he got his first real look at Gibbs, and the look on his face was priceless; he really wished he had a camera. "Hiya Gibbs," he managed to grunt out, trying to twist his face into a smile.

Then he was falling, he wasn't sure where, before two strong arms grabbed him and laid him down. He wanted to move, he wanted to do something, but he couldn't. His eyes wouldn't focus again, and he thought he heard Gibbs yelling at someone. He grinned a little to himself, feeling a little sorry for the person who had to deal with Gibbs right now.

But then came Gibbs' voice again, this time softer and a little clearer. It was telling him to hang on. "To what?" he asked out loud, more than a little confused, before finally he closed his eyes.

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Gibbs was worried, and when Gibbs was worried, he was also pissed. He couldn't believe how this case had gone to hell. What had started with a seemingly random murder of a Petty Officer by a warehouse had turned into a total disaster. First Campbell's reckless actions, and now some dirty cop had compromised their op and DiNozzo was lying injured in his arms.

He had seen the young detective's eyes fluttering and known that he was losing his grip on consciousness. He urged him to stay with him, to hang on. The reply was typical DiNozzo, "To what?" he had asked. Gibbs had almost smiled at this – almost – because then DiNozzo had finally lost the battle with unconsciousness and passed out.

"Still 5 more minutes on the ambulance," came a voice from behind him. Fornell was now standing over them, having locked Vincente in the back of their vehicle. "You should try to keep him awake, head injury and all," he suggested, kneeling next to the downed detective.

"Oh yeah, Tobias? And how do you expect me to do that?" Gibbs asked testily.

"I'm sure you'll think of something," Fornell replied before standing back up. "I'll go keep an eye on Padilla and wait for the ambulance."

"Tell them to hurry the hell up!" Gibbs said again, before turning his attention back to Tony. He looked the same as before - covered in blood, and looking like he'd gone 10 rounds with Tyson.

"Hey! DiNozzo!" Gibbs said sharply, trying to awaken the younger man. The only response he received was a low moan. "DiNozzo. Open your eyes; that's an order!" he said, mentally headslapping himself. He was no good at these talks; his idea of encouragement was a headslap and a sharp order. And yet, somehow, he knew that was what DiNozzo really needed. Still, he couldn't believe it when he found himself moving his hand toward an uninjured part of Tony's head. He brought his hand down on his skull with a quick tap, being as gentle as possible. But what surprised him even further was that the young detective reacted.

Tony jerked a little and opened his eyes. "Wha? Hey!" he whispered weakly, trying to glare at the lead agent.

"No napping on the job, DiNozzo."

"Wasn't napping, just resting m'eyes," he murmured.

"Oh really DiNozzo; looked to me like you passed out. Detective Cook didn't tell me he had a lightweight for a partner," Gibbs teased, hoping to keep the young man awake.

"Didn't pass out," he paused, wincing. "DiNozzos don't pass out…"

Gibbs almost smiled at how indignant Tony managed to sound even though he was lying flat on the floor, unable to move.

"Gibbs?" Tony said quietly, his voice starting to fade. "I think…I think I got shot…"

"Oh, ya think, DiNozzo? And what was your first clue?" Gibbs replied, trying to keep the teasing mood up, but it was getting harder to do. DiNozzo was fading fast, and a knot of grief was beginning to form in his stomach. He couldn't let DiNozzo die – he was a great detective and an even better man. He had known him for less than a week and he already felt protective of the young man. No, he would not let this beat him.

"Gibbs. Tell Cookie, tell him thanks…and sorry…for ah, dying on our last case," Tony gasped out, struggling to keep his eyes open.

"DiNozzo, save the last words crap for when you're really dying," Gibbs snapped. "If you give up now, I'll hunt you down and kill you myself, and it won't be quick."

"Sorry, Gibbs, I think someone already beat you to it…" he said, and with that his eyes closed again.

Just then, the door burst open and a team of EMTs rushed in with a gurney. They pushed Gibbs out of the way and started tending to Tony.

Gibbs watched as they stabilized him, rolling him onto a backboard and then loading him onto the gurney. Gibbs followed the paramedics out, ready to climb aboard the ambulance. "I'm sorry sir, you'll have to meet us there. We need all the room we can get to save his life," the younger EMT said, stopping Gibbs before he could leap into the back of the emergency vehicle.

Gibbs stepped right into the man's face, ready to let loose all of his worry and frustration on the young medic until the kid allowed him to ride along, but stopped himself at the last moment. He would be wasting crucial seconds; seconds that could mean the difference between Tony living or dying. The NCIS agent nodded and stepped back, allowing the young man to shut the doors of the ambulance. The vehicle sped away, sirens screaming, taking DiNozzo with it.

**Only one more chapter to go! I hope you enjoyed and please review! Next chapter up sometime this week, pretty much as soon as my schedule allows.**

**Peas,**

**Stephanie**


	10. Chapter 10

**We're finally here! The last chapter of my first ever fanfiction! It was a great ride, and I can't thank everyone who read, reviewed, favorited, or alerted this story...you all really made my day and made this story easier to write. I also have to give a special thanks to my amazing and wonderful beta reader, TechnoMistress, who made this story about a million times better with her suggestions, grammatical corrections, and comments. Honestly this story would be nowhere near where it is now without her, so thank you! I really hope you all enjoy the end, and please review! Finally, I don't know when or if I will write any more stories (probably not soon because college is killing me...honors english is all I do, seriously!) but I hope to one day post another story...probably something having to do with Tony =) Anywas, enjoy! PS: I don't own NCIS.**

**Chapter 10**

The next time Tony woke up, he immediately knew he was in the hospital. He'd been here many times before for both childhood injuries and the numerous injuries he had acquired in law enforcement. He was attached to various wires, and even after all of his hospital stays he still didn't know what they were for; most of the time he just pulled them out and harassed the nurses until someone brought him the form to sign out AMA.

He could feel bandages swathed around his arms, and a particularly large one wrapped around his head. His face felt swollen, but he could still see, and he took a moment to look around the room.

There were various cards and balloons, and an Ohio State bear sat next to his head, a gift from his frat brothers. There was even a vase of jet black roses resting in the corner of his room, undoubtedly from the bouncy forensic scientist, Abby.

His eyes then shifted to the figure slouched uncomfortably in a chair next to his bed. Cookie looked like he hadn't showered or slept or eaten in a week. There were circles under his eyes and his hair looked so ridiculous that it forced a painful chuckle out of Tony. His clothes were wrinkled, and Tony was glad the chair wasn't closer because he was sure there would be a stench.

"Cookie," he said quietly. The man jolted upwards as if Tony had screamed his name.

"Tony! You're awake! How long have you been up?"

"Um…maybe a few minutes. Geez Cookie, you look like hell."

"You looked in a mirror lately, Tony?" he teased.

"No, but I do know that my hair has _never_ looked that ridiculous," he retorted, gesturing to the mop on Cook's head.

"I see you haven't looked in the mirror Tony - I must say, I love the haircut. Really accents the swollen jaw line you've got goin' there."

"What haircut?" Tony said, panicking as he tried to raise his hand to his head. A jolt of pain stopped him quickly. "Cookie! What did they do?"

"Oh relax. It'll grow back. They just had to shave off a few parts to stitch you up."

Tony looked absolutely horrified, and Cook laughed at his partner's expression. "You know, Tony; I think you've got your priorities mixed up - you get shot in the head and all you can think about is your hair."

"Hey, it's very nice hair! I was thinking about having it insured…"

Cook chuckled. "Only you, Tony. Only you."

"So…what happened?" Tony finally asked, realizing they were beating around the bush a little.

"You somehow managed to end up in the hospital, even after we developed a plan that revolved around keeping you out of it. You're something else, Tony, you know that?"

"I've got so many special talents…"

"Oh, you're special all right. I mean would it kill you to get through one mission without injuring yourself? We keep you completely out of the action and the trouble still manages to find you!" Cook said, allowing his worry to take over for a second.

"Ok, okay, I get it. You can spare me the lecture. And how is this my fault anyway?"

"It's not…it's mine. I'm the one who sent you to a safehouse in the middle of nowhere with a dirty cop in your protection detail. I should've known…I didn't even see it coming," Cook said, guilt evident in his tone.

"Cookie, it's not your fault…" Tony started. It figured that the one time he was off the hook for one of his partner's long rants, Cookie would decide to shoulder the blame himself.

"No Tony, let me finish. When I got the call from Agent Gibbs, I was sitting at my desk, totally relaxed, figuring you were out there frustrated and going crazy from being cooped up, but at least safe. Instead, I was informed that you were on your way to the hospital with a bullet wound to the head, and that I had sent you into the middle of nowhere with a dirty cop."

Cook remembered the phone call vividly; it wasn't likely something he would ever forget.

"_Detective Cook," he answered, hoping that this was the call he had been waiting for._

"_Detective" Gibbs' voice came over the line, sounding almost hesitant. _

"_Agent Gibbs, I assume you have some news for me?" Cook asked._

"_It's about DiNozzo," he grunted out, trying to find the words to tell the Detective his partner was critically injured._

"_Is something wrong?" Cook had asked, panic creeping into his voice._

"_He's been shot…again," Gibbs stated bluntly, pretty much the only way he knew how._

_Cook had been stunned silent. Shot? How the hell had that happened? "Is, is he okay?" The pause on the other end was heart-shattering. "Agent Gibbs, is he okay?" Cook asked again, the tone of his voice demanding an answer._

"_He was alive when I last saw him," Gibbs said, trying to calm the detective. "It's bad; the bullet grazed his temple. He's being taken to Monroe University Hospital."_

_Aaron hadn't responded. He dropped his phone and grabbed his keys, heading straight for the hospital._

Tony interrupted his thoughts with another try at easing his guilt. "Cookie, you couldn't have known."

"But I should've!" He snapped back, his guilt not erased in the slightest.

"So, um," Tony said, trying to move on. "Did we get them? Is Vincente in jail? Case closed?" Tony asked hopefully.

Cook shot a small smile at his partner. "We got 'em. Well you guys did. Vincente's already locked away and no one is gonna let him make any deals. Same with Anderson, well, once he gets out of the hospital. You really got him, kid."

"Glad I could assist. And Jose?" Tony asked, now remembering that he hadn't seen the young drug kingpin in the safehouse.

"Gibbs killed him, probably while you were still napping," Cook teased again.

"Hey!" Tony cried indignantly. "I was just resting my eyes, waiting for the moment to strike!"

"Uh-huh," Cook smiled.

"So now what? We still have to find the link between Alex Morrow and his brother – make sure everything is wrapped up tight on that end. If you'll just go get my clothes and the paperwork, we can bounce."

"Ah, not so fast, Tony! You're stuck here for a while. Even your head isn't hard enough to take a bullet and come out completely unscathed."

"But Cookie, the case. I have an obligation!" Tony pressed, wanting to get out of the hospital as soon as possible.

"Oh don't you worry, DiNozzo. I think Gibbs already took care of that…the man's been on a rampage the last couple of days. You think I look bad-"

"Wait, Gibbs closed the rest of the case without me?" Tony asked incredulously, a little angry that he hadn't been let in again.

"Well yeah, Tony. You've been asleep for two days; crime doesn't stop while you're dreaming."

"Two days? Are you serious?" Tony gaped at his partner.

"Oh yeah, DiNozzo. Over 30 stitches in each arm. A good 20 more to close up your face. You lost a ton of blood, had to receive two transfusions. Your BP was in the basement and you weren't responding to anything…"

"Wait, wait, wait," Tony interrupted, horror evident in his expression. "How many stitches? Twenty? Oh my God, I must look like Frankenstein! Will it scar? Please tell me it won't! Do you see this face, Cookie? I can't afford that!" Tony exclaimed, only half joking.

Cook gave him an evil smile. "I don't know, Tony. I hear the ladies dig scars, but all over your face? Not as attractive." Cook then changed his tone back to serious. He wasn't going to allow Tony to get him off topic. "And then there's the small matter of the bullet wound in your temple. The doctors couldn't really assess the damage until you woke up, so what do you decide to do? You sleep for two straight days! You had us worried there for a while. And whenever Agent Gibbs wasn't driving everyone crazy trying to solve the case, he wouldn't leave this room. I think he thought he could intimidate you into waking up. But you were just as stubborn as ever, DiNozzo."

Tony didn't know how to reply to this new piece of information. He wasn't surprised that Gibbs had gone crazy trying to solve the case. Gibbs was an ex-marine with a strong sense of justice; he'd never just stand by and let the case stay partially solved. But the visits to his hospital room, now _that _surprised him. Gibbs didn't seem like the caring type, like the kind of guy that would sit at your bedside and pray you got better. Nope, that would be too warm and fuzzy for Gibbs, but then why had he come?

An uncomfortable silence filled the room for a few seconds, before Cook finally broke it with an equally awkward subject. "So, I don't suppose this case convinced you to stay?" he questioned, not allowing any hope to fill his mind.

Tony smiled wryly at his partner, "Yeah, Cookie, after getting shot twice in one week, I've changed my mind - this is the right place for me," he said sarcastically, but not unkindly.

"Yeah, didn't think so," Cook replied. In truth, he had never really expected his partner to change his mind. As much as Tony enjoyed police work, Baltimore wasn't the right place for him. Many of his coworkers didn't understand his goofy attitude and some even wondered why Chief Tillman put up with him. And the crimes in Baltimore were too cruel, too senseless. Tony was an investigator, and it didn't take a genius to see how some of the senseless cases had gotten to Tony. As much as Cook didn't want to lose him, he knew a change of scenery would do the kid good.

"Tillman already knows," Tony said. "I told him before this op began. I just have to hand in my two weeks' notice. So technically, I'm not Detective DiNozzo anymore, just plain Tony." He smiled before he looked down, fiddling with the sheets. He would miss his partner; Cook had been amazing to him, but he couldn't stay in Baltimore any longer. He'd gotten a few job offers from other departments – heck, maybe he'd even take Fornell up on his offer.

"I'll miss you, kid. And if you lose touch, I'll use every resource in this department to hunt you down, you got that?" Cook said, smiling at his young partner.

"Yes Sir!" Tony said strongly, giving his friend a small smile which quickly turned into a yawn.

"Get some sleep, Tony," Cook said, standing to leave.

"Thanks Cookie," Tony said, his eyes flickering now that he realized how tired he was.

"You're welcome, kid," Detective Cook said, leaving the room.

NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS

Gibbs strode into the hospital, heading directly to the elevator. By now, he could find DiNozzo's room blindfolded. As the elevator took him to the detective's room, he thought back on the last two days.

After DiNozzo had been taken away, he'd secured the scene and waited for their backup. Once he had been sure everything was under control, he'd driven as fast as he could to the hospital. At the time, Tony was still with the doctors being examined. He'd tried to bully the nursing staff into letting him through, but they were used to people like him. So he'd done the one thing he could do, he went back to the Navy Yard.

He had worked nonstop; bullying any and all agents in the building into helping him finish the case. He had paused only to field a call from Detective Cook, telling him that Tony was alive but hadn't woken up yet.

Midway into the next morning they'd caught a break. Metro PD had picked up a man matching Alex Morrow's description. Two hours later, Gibbs had a full confession out of the man. Tony's original theory had been spot on. The young man had been working in Padilla's organization for a while, but had found himself in over his head. Fearing for his life, he'd asked his brother for help, begging him to lend him the money to pay off his debts. His ever-loyal brother had sold his car to save him, but the money had come too late. Padilla had gotten sick of Alex and wanted to eliminate him.

Alex told Gibbs how Padilla's second in command, Antonio DeSalvo, had let him go instead of killing him, and how he had decided to disappear. He had been surprised that DeSalvo had saved him and allowed him to leave, but too relieved to think anything of it. He didn't know what had happened afterwards, but he confirmed that his brother was supposed to meet him at that warehouse with the money on the day of the murder. He assumed that Jose had then found his brother snooping around the warehouse and killed him, taking off with the money.

Everything fit into place perfectly, and yet Tony was still left fighting for his life. When Gibbs had first seen him, still and deathly pale, lying on the stark white sheets of the hospital bed, he had been surprised at the effect it had on him. He'd seen so many gruesome murders, seen comrades killed in action, but this, this was just wrong.

After the case had been closed, Gibbs had stationed himself by Tony's bedside, leaving only when Ducky showed up and dragged him out, threatening to sedate him. In the short while he had known the young detective, he had come to trust him. In less than a week, Tony had saved his life twice - once when they had been complete strangers and then a second time, when Tony already had a bullet wound to the head. Gibbs felt that even though he hadn't known the man for very long, a connection had been formed. He respected him. His methods were effective, if a little strange, but he got the job done and didn't care much for sucking up to the higher ups. He was a man Gibbs would be proud to have on his team.

During his stay at the hospital, this topic had come up in one of his conversations with Detective Cook. One of the few things that had stayed with Gibbs was Tony's comment about his "last case" with Cook. When Gibbs had asked the senior partner what Tony had meant, he had expected him to dodge the question – after all, it could be a sensitive topic. However, to his surprise, the homicide detective had been open with him, telling him that DiNozzo had decided, even before this op, that this would be his last case.

That little tidbit of knowledge had played with Gibbs' mind for the last day or so. He was in dire need of a good agent for his team; Campbell had made that abundantly clear. He respected DiNozzo and already knew that he was a good investigator. The young man was brave and displayed poise under pressure. He was a smooth talker, making him unmatched at getting information out of witnesses. He had already shown that he was brilliant at undercover work, having infiltrated Padilla's seemingly impenetrable organization. He was loyal and willing to fight through anything – he had certainly demonstrated that in the safehouse. And beyond all that was the one quality that both excited and scared Gibbs, as much as he hated to admit it – the kid reminded him of himself, before everything had happened.

And with those thoughts fresh in his mind, Gibbs entered Tony's hospital room.

"Special Agent Gibbs, what a pleasure!" Tony said with mock cheerfulness as he saw the lead agent enter. "You come to spring me?" he asked hopefully.

"Not happening, DiNozzo. You've still got a hole in your head," he replied.

"Actually, I have seven," Tony grinned. "But I believe I get your point."

"That's good. Wouldn't want to headslap you just yet."

"I'm pretty sure you can't headslap someone with a concussion, Gibbs. Might even be in the 10 Commandments – I believe it's squeezed in between don't screw around with your neighbor and don't kill, but I could be wrong." Gibbs didn't reply, so Tony continued. "So…I hear you closed my case. Thanks for waiting for me."

"Yeah, well some of us can't afford to sleep for two days straight, DiNozzo."

"Honestly, I wasn't sleeping! Why does everyone keep yelling at me for that anyways?" Tony cried in mock exasperation.

"Snores say otherwise, DiNozzo. Oh, and I'm supposed to tell you, Fornell sends his best wishes."

"Oh, I'm sure he does," Tony smirked. "So, I hear you found Alex Morrow?" he asked.

Gibbs nodded, taking a sip of his coffee. "Metro PD picked him up two days ago. His statement confirmed your theory."

"I knew I was right!" Tony burst out, smiling even wider at Gibbs.

"Yeah, turns out your Chief was pretty impressed with that, and with your actions in the safehouse. Looks like a commendation will be heading your way." Gibbs said, expecting an equally excited reaction out of Tony. He was surprised when the young detective took it in stride, not seeming overly emotional about it.

"Yeah, well, I was just doing my job. Did you like the whole 'knife in the belt' touch? I figured you would, having taught me that whole knife rule and all."

My rules are there for a reason," was Gibbs' only reply. The lead agent wanted to continue, wanted to thank the detective for saving his life, but he couldn't find the words. Conversations were not exactly his forte. Plus, he had never been one to give or accept thanks for doing the job one was paid to do; no, he wouldn't be thanking DiNozzo, at least not by saying the phrase out loud.

Lying on the bed, Tony was equally unsure, trying to figure out where the conversation was going. He nodded in response at Gibbs, eyes searching his face calculatingly. Obviously Gibbs had more to say; he just wished he'd come out with it already.

Fortunately, before the silence could get any more deafening, a nurse entered the room to deliver Tony's afternoon meds. "Here you are, Detective DiNozzo," she said, placing the pills on his bedside table.

"Actually, Christie," Tony said, smiling at the young nurse, "you can drop the Detective title now, Tony is just fine."

"Or Special Agent DiNozzo…" Gibbs put in cryptically, staring intently at Tony.

Tony looked at Gibbs quizzically, trying to figure out the man's intent. He waited until Christie had left the room before replying, "That a job offer, Special Agent Gibbs?"

Gibbs gave him a look that Tony couldn't quite decipher before answering. "I talked to your partner. He told me that you were currently unemployed," he stated simply.

"Well, uh yeah, sort of," Tony replied, a little taken aback. Of all the things he'd expected, it certainly hadn't been this. "I mean, I still have my 2 weeks' notice until I'm officially gone…"

"And your sick leave," Gibbs reminded him before Tony could even try to con him into returning him to the field before he was ready.

"0700, one month from today, I expect your ass at your desk, you got that?" Gibbs said sharply, looking intently at his soon-to-be newest agent.

"Got it, uh…boss," Tony stammered, really unsure of what to make of the situation. But…_Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo? _He really liked how that sounded.

"Oh, and Tony? If you're so much as a minute late, I'll transfer you to Campbell's new team – I hear he's gotten very skilled at cleaning toilets." Gibbs finished, smiling to himself as he left the room. He'd finally found his senior field agent.

**Thank you all so much for reading this story to the end and I hope you all enjoyed it! **

**Peas,**

**Stephanie**


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